Towards Morning
by janekle
Summary: Post Not Fade Away. When Willow opened a portal to hell and sent Warren through it he dragged Dawn through with him. Now she's back in L.A. AngelBuffy xover. Chapter 19. COMPLETED.
1. Default Chapter

CHAPTER 1:

"Oh boy, _this_ looks like home alright! The usual apocalypse happening!"

Adanar turned his glance from the battle being fought in the man made canyon below long enough to confirm the import of his companion's tone. He sighed and voiced his supposition as a fact and not a query,

"We're going to join this ridiculously one sided fight."

Dawn studied the scene below and nodded.

"Guess _I_ have to, but there's no need for _you_ to do anything if you don't want. Ooh jeez Spike; that _had_ to hurt!"

The blond vampire had been thrown several feet up and into the brick wall of the hotel. Dawn turned her attention to a severely wounded dragon and the figure dodging its massive talons and thrashing body.

"Trust Angel to think he's Saint George! He's a kick-ass fighter all right. Wonder who the blue haired woman is? She is _awesome _but so not human!"

"A running commentary is not an effective battle plan Dawn. Immediate action is required if you wish to save their lives."

Adanar's voice was dry; she amused him at the oddest times but if they were to join this fight she must offer constructive directions. This was her world and he knew very little of it. Dawn had been thinking furiously the whole time they had been observing and told him,

"The only useful action we can take against these numbers involves sacrificing the portal device. If one of us takes it over the rooves to the back of the demon army, set it for that black hole we almost got dragged into and tosses it above them, it should take quite a lot out before it destroys itself."

She gave him a glance. Adanar sighed; the device might be his only way of returning to his own world. He stared at the four creatures that dared make a stand against such might and knew he would try to save them.

"It might not work and we'll lose the device. If you say no then we won't. The device is _yours_ now I am back in my dimension."

Dawn's words were unnecessary but he appreciated them none the less.

"I'll take the device. You need to tell your friends what will happen so that they are not dragged through the portal inadvertently."

Dawn handed him the device and said quietly,

"They _are_ worth saving, my friend. And so is this world. Perhaps we shall find you another way home."

"Perhaps. Now go!"

Spike caught a movement from the corner of his eye; something had jumped from the hotel roof and would land too close for comfort. He gave the wounded demon in front of him a mighty shove and spun to face the new threat. Both his sword and his jaw dropped as he recognised the woman in front of him, despite her being far older than she should and carrying three parallel scars down and across one cheek.

"What … _Dawnie_?"

"Hi Spike. The cavalry's here. Duck."

"Duck? What duck?"

She held a wickedly sharp knife with the hilt pointing downwards and moving incredibly fast, stabbed the long blade over his shoulder and there was a scream from behind him.

"We're opening a portal towards the back of this lot. I'll tell Angel, you call your friends back!"

He blinked as she flexed her knees and made a standing jump that carried her over the demons and the fifty feet between her and Angel. His shoulder was gripped by a horny hand and he stabbed backwards instinctively and was released. Question time could wait, where were Gunn and Illyria? He had lost sight of them what felt like hours ago. He sprung onto the dead bulk of a Hyrulka demon and caught a flash of blue further down the alley; Illyria had found the violence she had craved and then some.

Angel was down and unconscious before Dawn reached him. He lay under the dead weight of the dragon, partially covered by one leathery wing. As she bent to free him a great cyclonic wind struck and she threw herself next to Angel and hoped the dragon's massive body would prevent them from sucked into the portal. The roar of the wind, the screams of the demons, the rending of metal and the cracking of man made rocks was deafening and she covered her ears and curled into a ball, whimpering with the pain of it. Seconds later there was a profound silence. Or maybe I'm just deaf, Dawn thought as she raised herself up cautiously to study the scene.

There were gaping holes in the buildings on either side of the alley, and a deep hole below the place where the portal must have opened. Demon bodies littered the ground in front of her for a bare thirty feet between her and the newly opened chasm and the few remaining live ones were either wandering aimlessly in shock or lying injured and moaning in pain. They were no longer a threat and could be dealt with later. She looked around, calling anxiously,

"Spike? _Spike?_"

A movement caught her eye and half a demon toppled aside as Spike forced himself to his feet. He gave her a small wave before bending over and heaving aside more carcasses. She looked up and scanned the roof line and was relieved to see Adanar leaping effortlessly between buildings. He stepped off of the hotel roof and landed lightly at Dawn's side.

"He is dead."

Adanar said in a gentle voice as Dawn dragged Angel free of the dragon.

"No he isn't. Well, yeah he's dead but he's a vampire and they're _un-dead_. I told you about them, remember?"

"Are they dead but not dead also?"

Dawn looked to where he was indicating; Spike was coming towards them carrying a moaning black man. She told Adanar,

"Spike, the one still on his feet, is a vampire but I'm not sure about .. "

"Gunn's human. More than I can say for your mate, Bit."

"I am Ganaru."

Spike raised an eyebrow,

"Is that your name or did you just sneeze?"

Dawn glared at him as Adanar lifted the limp body of Angel effortlessly.

"Adanar just gave up his only chance to get back to his own home world so we could save your bottle blond butt Spike because I told him you were worth saving!"

"Sorry luv. You know how my mouth runs away from me sometimes. I am grateful; last time I saved the world I got boiled from the inside out and I wasn't mad keen on doing it again."

Adanar smiled,

"Dawn is not noted for either her ability to be quiet or to be tactful. I see I was right to assume it to be a human failing."

Spike grinned,

"Wait till you meet her sister! The Slayer could _talk_ you to death if she set her mind to it!"

Dawn glanced at the sky and suggested,

"Hadn't you better get indoors before you go up in flames, Spike? Sun's coming up. Where's the woman? Wasn't she on your side?"

"Yeah, she was. She wouldn't listen. Wesley's death shook her up and I guess she didn't want to stay in this world without him."

Dawn took half of Gunn's weight as they moved into the half demolished hotel.


	2. Chapter 2

CHAPTER 2:

Spike winced as the pain and stiffness of his various injuries set in. He watched as Dawn's friend knelt beside Angel and examined the unconscious vamp's wounds; the guy seemed to know what he was doing and Angel sighed and drifted off into a quieter sleep. The three of them were in the sewer below the Hyperion waiting for Dawn to come back from getting Gunn help and Spike was getting increasingly nervous as the chances of stray demon survivors from the battle coming across them grew. He glanced back towards the entrance again and again.

To pass the time, he asked Adanar,

"So where did you meet Dawnie?"

Adanar stood up and stretched. His six foot seven inch frame could have passed for human but there was a _strangeness _to his features while his copper hair and skin had a metallic sheen that gave him the look of a movie robot. His voice was so melodic that he seemed to sing rather than speak, as he answered now,

"We were paired for Death Ring training on Kridjator. I was fortunate; she is a skilful warrior; my people are healers and do not use violence. Dawn kept us both alive until I managed to overcome my repugnance."

Spike frowned,

"Kridjator. I've heard about it somewhere. I have a feeling that whatever I was told wasn't good?"

"No. It is one of the few Hell worlds with a civilisation. Dawn once compared it to an Empire of this world. The Roman Empire, I believe she called it. It also had a slave economy and staged fights to the death between specially trained slaves."

"Is that where she got the scars on her face?"

Spike lowered his voice, Dawn was in sight.

Adanar shook his head.

"No. She scarred herself to avoid the breeding pens and get out of the brothels. The Kidjatori abhor imperfection, even when it is not a genetic trait."

Dawn glanced down at Angel and Adanar assured her,

"He sleeps. He will be fine."

She nodded and turned to Spike.

"We can't stay here. As soon as the parameds took Gunn away the police began a search of the hotel and all the buildings that were damaged when the portal blew."

The blond vamp hauled himself to his feet, drained of energy and feeling every twinge in his aching body.

"We can get to my place through the sewers but it's a hell of a hike."

She gave him a brief but wicked grin,

"Don't worry, Spike, I'll piggy-back you if you get too tired."

Outrage gave him strength.

"Like buggery bloody hell you will Niblet! I'd sooner crawl than be lugged about like a motherless child by you!"

He turned and marched away without looking to see if they followed.

They reached Spike's sorry little apartment almost two hours later and while Dawn wasn't piggy-backing Spike, she _was_ half carrying him without any complaints from him. She settled him onto the couch and directed Adanar to lay Angel on the bed. As the Ganaru gave his charge further treatment she poked into every cupboard of Spike's kitchen and peered into his icebox, returning to the small living room with a bottle of bourbon and a carton of blood. Wearily Spike swung his legs to the floor and made room for her to sit beside him, accepting the bourbon and taking a few good sized mouthfuls before exchanging it for the blood.

He watched Dawn gulp down as much of the alcohol as he had, noting she didn't pull a face as it flowed down her throat and commented,

"Slayer'll have a fit if she sees you do that, Bit."

"By my count I'm barely three month's off turning twenty. Besides, she is very noticeable by her absence. Couldn't spare you guys a few of the baby slayers I've come across since hitting Earth three weeks ago?"

Spile was surprised.

"You've been back three weeks and _haven't_ been in touch with Buffy? Why not?"

She shrugged.

"I wasn't sure if this was _my_ world; what with the time discrepancy and a humungous hole where my home town used to be. We had a hard time getting used to living with three times less gravity than we're used too; kinda like mountain sickness would be, I think. Then there's the whole witch issue; rumour has it she's still out there doing the magic thing. I'm more than not happy about that. _Way_ pissed, to be accurate."

He could understand; Red had sent her to Hell after all said and done. But to leave Buffy wondering, especially after the First not appearing in Dawn's form had given her hope that her sister was still alive somewhere, was cruel.

He opened his mouth to explain but she spoke first.

"I know all about the First and the new Slayers, the witch's spell and you having a soul, dragging the Hellmouth into that pit and coming back as a ghost. Six years on Kridjator didn't make me forget how to use a computer. I hacked into the Watcher Council's central data base."

Spike blinked then began to chuckle.

"You always were the _clever_ one, Bit! Old Rupert is gonna choke when he finds out you did that!"

She said complacently,

"Only if _you_ tell him, and you won't do that, will you Spike?"

"And risk you coming after me with a pointy wooden stick? Not bloody likely. Besides, I like to think you got all the sneaky stuff from _me_!"

He held out a hand for the rapidly diminishing bottle.

She passed him the bourbon,

"I do whatever it takes. Guess maybe I did get that from you."

He took it and said thoughtfully,

"All the same luv, you _should_ let her know you're back. She's got this big empty space inside where you used to be."

As Adanar came out of the bedroom, she stood and muttered,

"I can relate to that; _I've_ got a big empty space inside where I used to be. Are you too drained to leave?"

The Ganaru glanced from her to Spike before saying,

"I _am_ tired but it will pass soon. The energy I used on Angel should be enough for his system to do the rest. Do you need healing Spike?"

"I'll be fine. I need sleep more than anything but thanks for asking. What's your hurry Bit? We've got a lot of catching up to do and Peaches is gonna want to thank you and your mate for saving our sorry butts."

Dawn had her hand on the door knob and glanced back over her shoulder at the concerned vamp,

"Adanar needs protein to get his strength back and I'm just plain hungry. We need to make sure our stuff is alright and find a better motel than the roach palace we stayed in the last two days. We'll be back this evening. You get some rest, okay?"

He yawned as he waved them good bye. By the time they reached the street Spike was curled up on the couch and beginning to snore.


	3. chapter 3

Chapter 3:

Since Gunn had no immediate family the hospital hadn't allowed anyone in to see him while he was in I.C.U. Not that he would have been aware of anyone for the first week; his skull had been fractured badly enough for the doctors to have kept him in a drug induced coma for most of that time anyway. The nurses had passed messages from Spike but they had been vague; telling him not worrying over details such as who was paying the hospital bills or the rent on his apartment. A note left at the nurses station had informed him that Angel was being 'a miserable bloody git' and getting on everyone's nerves. Everyone? There had only been the four of them in that alley, had they all survived? And if they had, how had they managed to defeat a hundred thousand demons? Had the Slayer turned up with her army after he'd lost consciousness?

Damn it, what the hell had happened? Worry gave him almost as many headaches as did the fractured skull and the blurry vision. The eye problem got him down too; he wouldn't be able to fight if he was half blind and 'Angel Investigations' had made a lot of enemies in the recent past. If any of the senior partners of 'Wolfram and Hart' were still active then Gunn was a sitting duck stuck here in a hospital bed. This morning they had moved him into this private room and now he waited impatiently for nightfall and a visit from Spike and Angel; or anyone who could fill in the blanks for him.

The cute blond nurse was taking her time in doing her hourly observations and holding his wrist for an unnecessarily long pulse count. Gunn didn't notice her pout of disappointment as she slid his chart into the holder on the foot of the bed, or the way she sashayed out, hips swinging. He glanced at the window and decided it was dark outside, dark enough for a vampire to be out and about. He heard a small female squeal of outrage and an unmistakeable English voice pronounce breezily,

"Your loss luv, I only make one time offers."

The blond vamp strolled into the room and tossed a damp paper bag on the bed. The bag split and grapes spilled over the snowy counterpane as Gunn scrabbled to stop them slipping beneath the covers where he could lie on them. His questions exploded from him in a machine gun rattle,

"Spike! Man I never thought I'd be so pleased to see you! Where's Angel and Illyria? How'd we manage to survive? We did win, didn't we?"

"Been missing me huh? See, I told you I'd grow on you. Oh yeah, these are for you. I wanted to bring booze but Dawnie went all traditional on me and you get grapes instead of bourbon."

Spike dragged a chair to the side of the bed and stretched out, lifting both booted feet to rest on the snowy bed cover. Gunn wondered if he should warn the vamp that the evening charge nurse would take him apart at the seams for it. Spike versus 'Nurse Ratchett'? It would be one hell of an argument!

He kept his mouth shut as Spike explained,

"The Slayer's kid sister got back from Hell just in time to save your life and our un-lives. She and her friend tossed a portal device over the hordes and sucked nearly all of them into a black hole. Blue ignored my warning and chased the buggers through the portal. She's probably out there somewhere having a blast and slaughtering everything in sight! Least I hope so."

Gunn sighed and nodded an agreement. Spike sat silent and stared at the wall for a moment and Gunn knew it wasn't just Wes and Illyria the vamp was mourning; it was Fred as well. Damn, Gunn thought, Cordy, Wes, Fred, Illyria and Lorne. We lost a lot, but Lorne might come back one day.

Spike continued,

"Angel was unconscious and it turns out that he's got a broken back. Adanar is a Ganaru healer so Peaches is healing faster than even a vamp normally would. We decided to get you to a normal hospital because Adanar isn't up to full speed after four years on a Hell world called Kridjator. Unless I dust Angel for being a right pain! Sod thinks _he's_ the only one to lose friends! I reckon we were dead set bloody lucky for the three of us to still be around! The poof doesn't see it that way of course!"

Gunn shook his head in disgust. Angel was good at this sullen crap; he had to agree with Spike on that one. He asked,

"Old broody got a bad case of the moans huh? Let me guess; he's on about it being down to him that we lost Wes and Illyria? He needs a good butt kicking sometimes! Anyway, who's paying for all this then? I got a message saying not to worry about my rent or the bills but I'm sure we effectively resigned from 'Wolfram and Hart' and I can't see the senior partners keeping us on the payroll. Are there any senior partners left, do you know?"

"Dunno. None of them have been around. There were a few demons roaming around after the battle but me and Dawnie have been weeding them out. Wait till you see her fight! She's temporarily faster and stronger than me or Angel; better than the Slayer too. Kridjator has almost three times the gravity of Earth and a similar time differential; Dawnie should be sixteen but she's closer to twenty. She and Adanar were trained to be gladiators in a Death Ring. Kinda like the Roman Coliseum."

Spike sounded like a proud father and Gunn was amused and surprised. The vampire's tone changed and turned sombre as he went on,

"Dawn spent time as a slave in a mine and managed to hide a few gems as her 'retirement plan'. Berdea crystals are worth a packet. Magic users can store power in them and collectors love them because they're actually jet black diamonds. So money's not a worry."

"The Slayer must be pleased her sister's back?"

Gunn had noticed that Buffy hadn't been mentioned; she must not have turned up to help out. He wondered if he'd finally get to meet the famous Buffy; '_The _Slayer' up until a year ago when Willow's magic had brought every potential slayer to full power; breaking the ten thousand year old rule of 'one Slayer alone.' He was curious about the girl who had two vampires fall in love with her.

"We'll find out tomorrow when she gets into town. Niblet had Angel call Giles and get him to tell Buffy because she thought she'd get shrugged off if she phoned out of the blue. Buffy's in for a shock; it's hard to remember that Dawn isn't a kid anymore."

The end of visiting buzzer sounded and Spike stood up to go. He scowled and muttered,

"I was supposed to ask if there was anything you need? And how much longer they think you'll be here? I don't even think I asked how you're feeling! Sorry mate."

Gunn laughed,

"Hey, don't sweat it! I was the one with all the questions, remember? My vision's still blurry so reading's out. I could do with my 'walkman' and a few discs? The doctors want me to wait until the eyes clear up and the headaches ease down. I think they're talking another week at least. I sure hope the money isn't a problem; this will cost a packet. Tell Dawn I said thanks. Bring her with you sometime; so I can thank her in person. If you give Angel a butt kicking; give him a few from me! Just remind him that neither Wes nor Illyria would be too impressed with the whole 'woe is me' crap! All any of us can do is just get on with it."

Spike grinned and made a generous offer,

"Tell you what, I can put up with the bugger for another week. You're gonna need to get back in to training when you get out, so how about we wait till then and we can both have a fun workout?"

"Sounds good to me! We might have to paint a bulls-eye on the seat of his pants if I'm still not seeing straight."

"Not a problem. I'll get your stuff to you tomorrow night."

Spike promised as he left.

Less than thirty seconds later Gunn heard a tiny shriek and a nurse with an angry flush stalked into the room. Gunn smiled innocently only to receive a glare in return. He protested,

"Hey, I never saw the guy until tonight! He _said _he was a visiting preacher."


	4. Chapter 4

CHAPTER 4:

Buffy spotted Dawn first. Giles glanced down at the tiny blond beside him and her fixed stare drove whatever he'd been about to say out of his mind. Following her gaze he found her degree of shock was understandable. It was hard to see the Dawn of barely two years ago in the woman who waited for them on the other side of the glass wall of immigration. Taller, very thin and the scars on her cheek a vivid red on the pale face. Catching Buffy's anguished stare, Dawn gave a small wave and a reassuring smile. Obviously uncomfortable with the throng of people also waiting for those slowly sifting through customs, Dawn remained standing with her back to a pillar and scanning the crowd around her warily.

"Dawn and Angel did try to warn us not to expect her to be unchanged, Buffy."

Giles touched her shoulder gently as they shuffled one place forward in the queue.

Buffy nodded and said, husky voiced,

"I know. It's just that .. She's been so _hurt,_ Giles! Her face; I can't imagine how desperate she must have been to do _that_ to herself!"

Giles removed his glasses and was polishing them as he spoke around the lump blocking his own throat,

"The scars can be fixed with plastic surgery. And she'll regain her weight easily. As for her emotional state; Angel is amazed at how strong she is! Of course there will be some problems; it's only to be expected. This not wanting to see Willow is understandable and not unreasonable. We need to respect her wishes while she adjusts to being back."

Buffy nodded.

"Everything I read about that place; that Kridjator, is so .. How did she manage to survive _six years_ of it, Giles? The slavery; the torture; being made to fight for her life as _entertainment _for a horde of demons and she says she's not a Slayer? It's unbelievable!"

They reached the customs officer and passed through quickly. Dawn moved swiftly to meet them in the baggage area. Giles noticed how controlled her movements were and realised she was compensating for the lack of gravity by concentrating on moving as slowly and as smoothly as possible. But when Buffy finally released her sister several minutes later and Dawn wrapped her arms around his waist, the strength in her hold made him wince.

Dawn immediately let go and gave him a tiny smile, saying apologetically,

"Oops, sorry Giles. Spike says it's like being hugged by a bear trap. But we all know what a cream puff he can be."

"Oh yeah? Wait till you're back to normal Niblet; then we'll see who wins the arm wrestling and demon tossing!"

Spike smiled but was eyeing Buffy with a cool wariness. He muttered,

"You're looking good, Slayer. Guess Europe and taming the newbies suits you?"

"Thanks Spike. You're looking pretty good yourself, for someone who was a pillar of fire last time we saw each other."

Buffy didn't have the heart to be angry and hurt over his not telling her he had returned from his fiery, save-the-world heroics. She felt enough guilt for having distrusted both he and Angel in their recent battle. She offered a truce,

"I'm sorry I missed you guys when you were in Rome. I should have got in touch. But .. "

Dawn took a bag from Giles and winked as she wondered aloud;

"Wonder what the etiquette is? Do you treat both exes the same? Or is there a particular order like when you hire and fire? You know Giles, last in, first out? Oww! Let go Buffy! I can beat you with one hand behind my back these days! Tell her, Spike!"

Spike glanced from the blushing Buffy, who was tugging Dawns ear, to the squirming Dawn and then to a smiling Giles.

"Uh uh Bit, _so_ not gonna get involved. I'm just here to play chauffeur, remember?"

Buffy bit her lip at his nonchalant attitude and Giles looked both relieved and surprised. The blond vamp hefted a suitcase and strode off ahead into the parking lot. The drive to the hotel was quiet, Buffy and Dawn exchanged a word here and there but Spike's coolness provided an awkward dampener on conversation.

When they pulled up in front of the hotel the vamp stayed behind the wheel, leaving them to remove the bags. Through the open window he asked Dawn,

"You want me to swing by later and pick you up?"

"No, I'll be fine. Are you going to the hospital? Don't forget to sound Gunn out about my idea, okay?"

Spike nodded and glanced at Buffy and Giles on the sidewalk. He gave them a small wave and a polite,

"If I don't see you before you leave for Europe, have a good trip. Don't let Bit near the mini-bar; she's a fiend for a good drop of whisky."

"Tattle tale!"

Dawn laughed as he drove off. Turning to a bemused Giles and a confused Buffy, she said brightly,

"I got you a suite. Thought it would be more comfortable having a quiet place to talk. The food here is great, too. Are you guys hungry? I'm always hungry these days. Must be the change of air, like when you go to the beach. Adanar says I'll do some damage to my system if I keep eating the way I have since we've been back."

"Adanar? Oh, your Ganaru friend. I hope we will get to meet him, I've never met a true healer."

Giles led the way into the lobby.

"He's going to come by later. He's really interested in the whole Watcher – Slayer whatsit and the stuff about the Key. I asked him to come to the airport but he thought we'd be better off having a bit of privacy. And he worries about Angel; he doesn't believe us when we tell him Angel's always been doom-y and gloomy. Ganaru aren't susceptible to depression and stuff apparently."

Dawn stood back as he and Buffy signed in and were handed their keys. A bell boy took their bags and showed them to the comfortable suite of two bedrooms, a bathroom and a small living room. After tipping him and closing the door behind him, Dawn grabbed one of the menu's laying on the coffee table and began poring over it. Buffy sat down next to her on the couch and asked diffidently,

"Is Angel as unforgiving over us not trusting him as Spike seems to be?"

"Dunno; although he got himself all worked up when he found out I hadn't got in touch with you. Spike did too. He said it was cruel."

Giles cleared his throat and asked quietly,

"Why _did_ you wait so long to let us know you were back, Dawn? Are you so angry with us that you haven't wanted to talk to us?"

She sighed and leaned back against the couch, frowning.

"First off, we were ill when we came through the portal. The gravity times three deal and we had to fight the slavers for the portal device, which didn't help. Then it seemed like we were in the wrong dimension or something. The time differential; coming across a load of slayers; hometown in a pit, that kind of thing. Then on the way from Canada, where we came through, I began to hear stuff, rumours about the way things went down and I wasn't sure whether you were still the good guys."

Buffy stared at her, hurt. She demanded to know,

"How could you think that? Did Spike or Angel … "

Dawn flared up,

"This was _before_ I got to L.A.! I ran into Clem in Seattle and dropped by every demon bar between there and here and I wasn't sure what I'd find here! Look,"

She tried to calm down as she explained,

"Sunnydale was gone; Willow was still doing magic and was back in our, your, house not long after sending me to hell and with a new girl friend to boot. Not only her but Warren's evil little sidekick and Faith, the rogue slayer! Then I get _here_ to find Spike, Angel and two of their friends taking on dragons and a demon horde numbered in the tens of thousands after Wesley had already been killed and not a Slayer or Scooby in sight! What do you damn well _expect_ me to think, huh?"

The scars on her cheek reddened and she touched them as if they hurt. In a quieter, almost gentle voice she continued,

"I know you never asked to get landed with me or be dragged out of heaven to look after me and I know it wasn't fair of those stupid monks to _create_ me. I'm not blaming you Buffy, honestly I'm not, but it must have been a relief for all of you to have me .. _not _be there anymore. I never meant to be cruel or hurtful but .. I was so busy staying alive and trying to get back that I never really thought it through. Coming back here to a world where I never belonged. I just wanted _out_ of Hell so badly!"

Buffy began to cry. Giles removed his glasses and pinched the bridge of his nose before he said quietly,

"Willow has never forgiven herself for having said some very hurtful things to you in her madness Dawn. She, _we_ tried very hard to get you back but nothing …"

Dawn broke in,

"She has the power to raise the dead, restore Angel's soul and change ten thousand years worth of history and she's _too weak_ to reverse her own spell? _Oh, please_! What was it you called her; an 'arrogant amateur'? You _knew_ she was out of control! You knew first hand that she was abusing her power and you just left her, and us, alone to deal with it. _You left us_!"

Giles sagged and tried to respond but found himself unable to speak but his face took on a guilty, haunted expression.

"And _I_ wasn't there for you either."

Buffy choked out. She turned to Dawn and told her,

"I'm _so sorry_ Dawnie! I'm so sorry I let you down. Those months were so awful for you, I know. I was so busy feeling sorry for myself and using Spike to beat myself up that I ignored everything _you_ were trying to deal with! God, you had to resort to making wish spells and the stealing to get _any _sort of attention. You were fourteen and trying to deal with losing mom, my death, Glory and the whole Key business and I never even thought about what you were going through! Then I lost you and it was too late."

As Buffy sobbed Dawn put her arm around her sister's shoulders and rocked her.

"Hey, come on, quit that Buffy. Slayers don't cry, I think it's in the rules somewhere. Besides,"

she giggled and Buffy looked at her in surprise,

"That whole klepto thing? Came in _real_ handy; I'm loaded! Kinda stole a few Berdea crystals while I was in the mines. Black diamonds. But it wasn't really stealing; they had no retirement or health plan at all!"

She sounded so virtuously self righteous that Buffy managed a watery smile and asked,

"Loaded huh? So you won't be asking for your accumulated pocket money arrears?"

Dawn waved her hand in an airy, dismissive gesture and said generously,

"Oh, you can keep it all! Use it to buy yourself something madly useless!"

Buffy laughed and wiped her eyes. Dawn picked up the menu and pleaded,

"Can we please order? Before Adanar gets here and does his 'you will suffer a digestive upset' routine? Ooh, lemon chicken! I'm gonna have the chilli too!"

Giles cleared his throat, affected a shudder and frowned at her choices but before he could say a word there was a knock on the door and Dawn rolled her yes and muttered mournfully as she stood to answer it,

"Too late! Now I can only have one or the other! Damn it!"

Even before the Ganaru had a chance to say a word, she demanded to know,

"What's happened? What's wrong?"

Even Buffy and Giles could see the agitated, anxious expression on the demon's face as he glanced towards them momentarily.

"They're here Dawn! Hadretz and Strega! The slavers are here in this city; I saw them across the street just three blocks away!"

"Oh, shit!"

Nobody admonished Dawn for the fervent expletive.


	5. Chapter 5

CHAPTER 5:

"Earth isn't big business for inter-dimensional slavers. They concentrate primarily on our demons for their mines, armies and heavy scut work. The Kridjatori take a few human women of child bearing age because they are close enough in humanoid terms to successfully cross breed but mainly they use them as incubators for specialized demon embryos. Oh, and as exotic sex toys. But almost two thirds die because it takes a while to adjust to the massive increase in gravity. And the bad treatment dished out to them, of course."

Dawn scrapped the last noodle from the carton she held and looked wistfully at the only half-empty cartons from the Chinese take-out. As she reached for it Adanar noticed and warned,

"You will make yourself ill if you eat anymore, Dawn. I suggest you be content with the rather large amount of food you have managed to guzzle your way through today."

"I don't '_guzzle_'! And all I've had today is …. Oh. All right."

Remembering just how much she _had_ eaten, Dawn reluctantly followed his advice but wailed plaintively,

"But I'm _still_ hungry!"

The Ganaru nodded and told her gently,

"You only imagine that you are still hungry. You are only concerned with eating your fill in case there is no food tomorrow. Your mind set is as it was on Kridjator when having food was _never_ a certainty but we are _not_ on Kridjator and we _do_ have a guaranteed food source from which to draw."

She eyed him speculatively and asked,

"Are you _sure_ there are no psychiatrists on Ganarid? 'Cause you, Freud and some of those guys sure would have a lot to talk about."

"You were telling us about slavers. And these two who are in L.A. right now, Hadretz and Strega, in particular?"

Angel brought her back to the topic of the slavers; the reason why they were all seated about the large dining table in the house Dawn had rented for herself, Adanar and the convalescent Angel.

Seeing Angel in a wheelchair had been awkward for Buffy, and for Giles as well. The vampire was in a surprisingly upbeat mood; courtesy of a visit from Nina, whom Spike took some delight in introducing to the pair as 'Peach's girlfriend'. Nina and Buffy eyed each other closely, and warily, before the young woman kissed Angel goodbye and promised to visit the next evening.

"Hadretz is bad enough; he's a Tarethian warlock but that Strega,"

Dawn shook her head and her voice and eyes grew cold,

"He's a total monster! The story goes that he traded his mother, sister and two nieces to a brothel owner for five year old co-joined twin girls because he was so jaded he needed the novelty! Sick son-of-a-bitch even the _Kidjatori _despise and fear. He's also _the_ single best fighter I've ever seen; a Samarian paladin given over to pure evil."

She turned to Adanar and declared,

"I don't want you leaving the house while he's around! He's not even going to get the very slightest idea that you're here and alive, okay? I'll deal with him; you _promise_ me that you'll do as I say!"

"Dawn .. "

Adanar started to protest but she said something in another language that left them in no doubt that she was giving him an order he'd be a fool to argue with, let alone disobey. Reluctantly, he nodded and promised,

"Very well, I'll remain here but _you_ are not to seek him out on your own! He is far too dangerous, Dawn. It is as you have said; he is a truly _formidable_ warrior! Neither will he be alone; Hadretz is sure to have his Kidjatori bodyguards and Strega that foul beast of his."

Dawn smiled and touched the Ganaru's shoulder,

"I'm not a complete idiot, my friend! I'm thinking ambush where that sod's concerned! Just stay well clear of him, please? If I lose you … who knows who or what I'd end up having to depend on to cover my back!"

Spike assured the Ganaru,

"Bit won't be alone; I'll stick so close she'll think she's got two bleedin' shadows! What sort of beastie this bugger got for a pet?"

Adanar told him,

"A full grown Cralggaahn. It is not very large but it is swift, powerful and its jaws and claws are both sharp and poisonous!"

Dawn added,

"It's about the size of a half grown brown bear and moves like a bear crossed with a large panther. Nasty critter. It plays with its prey like a cat does and can follow the faintest scent for days on end and still have energy to spare. It's ferocious enough to make sharks seem like goldfish and polar bears as cuddly as kittens. Dumb though. Only enough brain cells to kill and eat."

She laughed and asked Adanar,

"Remember that one they let loose in the Ring? I reckon I broke almost every single Olympic record staying out of its way! We sure didn't bother about artistic finesse when we brought it down!"

"_I_ remember sliding about in its dung for an eternity while I waited to be eaten! It killed seven, no eight, of Klats's spearmen before you almost scared me to death by leaping on to the creature's back and riding it about the Ring before managing to sever its spine and decapitating it! Gonstor was _livid_ with you! It was his most expensive animal. I thought he was going to beat you to _death_!"

Adanar shuddered at the memory.

Dawn grinned and reminded him,

"He changed his tune when that fat old Death Ring owner from Sarnert wanted to buy me! I did all right out of that kill; we sure lived it up for a few days! _And_ I got to choose our next three fights! Not too shabby, was it?"

"God Dawnie, how can you laugh about it?"

Buffy wanted to know, baffled by her sister's matter of fact tone and Dawn's seeming amusementat a deadly encounter.

Dawn looked at her sister with some bewilderment,

"Well, it _was_ kinda funny. Getting depressed over everything that happened would have been a death sentence, you know. Besides, the Death Ring was a _huge_ improvement on the brothel and the Berdea mine; at least _I _had some control over what happened to me while I was fighting. Don't tell me you haven't had a Slayer type fight or situation that wasn't a little bit funny? Remember the Halloween costumes that had that spell on them? I mean you turned into a swooning Southern belle and Xander thought he was G.I. Joe; that was good for a laugh, wasn't it?"

"May we please return to the subject of the slavers?"

Giles pleaded while polishing his glasses furiously,

"If we are about to go up against a warlock, then surely we should ask Willow for help? As much as I can understand how unpalatable the idea is for you Dawn; she _is _the most powerful magic user we have."

"You don't _need_ magic when a crossbow bolt can do the job, Giles. I managed just fine for six years without the witch and there's no way I'm gonna spend my time looking over my shoulder to see what she's up to when I can just kill the guy. That kind of insecurity can destroy your focus and get you killed!"

The finality of her tone that told him that she wasn't open to either reason or persuasion. She added,

"Anyway, this isn't your fight or anyone else's. It's ours; mine and Adanar's. Strega was the bastard who forced Adanar to kill! When torture didn't work, he kicked a kid to death in front of him and threatened to do the same to every slave connected with the Death Ring. That's why I don't want _him_ to find out Adanar's here, I'll take him down myself before he has a chance to hurt him again."


	6. Chapter 6

Towards morning. Chapter 6.doc

Hantek staggered out of the bar cursing. The Kridjatori had forgotten he was on Earth and had made the mistake of trying to lord it over a couple of vampires, starting a fight he was too drunk to finish and suffering the indignity of being unceremoniously ejected by the huge Hukan demon who acted as bouncer. His three fellow Kridjatori had not stood up for him, as Kridjatori should, but even declined to join him in leaving to find another place to drink. So now he was left alone to find his way back to the run down warehouse and the obnoxious and dangerous Strega and his equally obnoxious and dangerous pet. He cursed his lousy luck, the vampires, his erstwhile friends and the two slavers as he staggered along the dark alleyways of the increasingly dilapidated dockside area. The air, cooler and less smoky than that of the bar but by no means qualifying for the term 'fresh', seemed to increase the effects of the alcohol rather than lessen it. He staggered outrageously as he endeavoured to cope with drunkenness and the not too perfect adaptation to the lower gravity of this world.

His increased speed gave him a feeling of invulnerability from would be attackers and when he caught sight of a lone woman turning into the alley a block ahead of him, he thought his night had just gotten better. So far they had not captured even one human woman he could have vented his fury on; Hadretz and Strega more interested in the so called Slayers they had heard of than in the more mundane and fragile women to be found. What fools they were to give any credence to this silly tale of 'superwomen'! This idiotic fable had led to them waiting for Hadretz to return from seeking out the mythical Slayerswhile the rest of them sat about wasting time when they could have already had a half dozen women and demons collected and a guaranteed profit in hand.

Every one knew humans were weak, easily broken, and their women only tolerable here on their own planet where they withstood the 'pleasure' he sought from them for much longer than they could on Kridjator. Even here they were blind, witless creatures. The woman ahead had not shown the slightest awareness of the danger she was in. Why, most of them refused to acknowledge that they shared the world with demons! No wonder they were so easily captured; all arrogance and superiority with nothing in them at all to justify their conceit. Well, here was one who would learn the truth about herself and her world the hard way; only a few feet more and she would walk into a patch of dark shadow she would never emerge from alive.

Buffy watched the Kridjatori stagger after Dawn and fought the urge to race after him and attack. Beside her Spike could tell what she was thinking and murmured,

"Bit would be furious if you tried to interfere. She knows what she's doing. Just give her a chance to show off to you a little."

"Showing off might just get her killed! I can't believe I agreed to let her do this. If anything happens to her .. "

Her voice shook at the thought of losing her again.

Spike gave her a gentle nudge,

"So now you know how Joyce felt every time _you_ left the house."

"Maybe; but she also knew how well trained_ I_ was! Dawnie hasn't .. "

She noticed the raised eye-brow and, reluctantly, had to concede the point.

"Okay, so she _can_ fight! But that doesn't make it any easier just to stand by, you know."

"I know. I almost got myself killed watching out for _her_ when I should have been paying attention to the bugger who was trying to take _my _head off with his bare hands! Here we go! Let's get closer to the action."

They moved swiftly and silently behind the Kridjatori.

Hantek couldn't understand what went wrong. He came at the woman with inhuman speed but instead of the shoulder he reached out to grab he found a sharp elbow hammered into his midriff with enough force to make him back pedal gasping for breath. Recovering instantly he leapt at her and she was no longer there; instead he staggered from a vicious booted toe kick to the side of his knee. Sobering rapidly, he bellowed; the woman thrust stiff fingers hard into his throat, cutting off the noise.

In disbelief he heard her speak in Kridjatori-common, the slave tongue.

"What is this cesspit that dares hinder me in my own place? The stench of cheap alcohol tells me that it is some lower slime that forgets itself!"

"Slave bitch! I shall kill you slowly so that your screams may be a meagre apology for your foul presumption! I, Hantek of the clan of Sarnert declare this to be so!"

Dawn kept moving, circling the befuddled Kridjatori, vaguely aware of Buffy and Spike watching from close by but focusing on the creature in front of her. That he was drunk and still unused to judging his coordination correctly gave her a slight advantage that distraction would so easily destroy. A sudden thought made her grin wickedly at him and she drew herself to her full height and manoeuvred her opponent and herself into the position she needed. A tiny movement of her head allowed a shaft of bluish neon light to fall across her scarred cheek and the words she spoke rolled out of her and echoed off the alley walls with the malevolence of a gypsy curse.

"I am Dorhn; She who slays the last dark of night! I am Dorhn; She who creates and destroys! I am Dorhn; She who has the power to bring order out of chaos and chaos out of order! What have _you_ to do with Me or Mine?"

Hantek was shocked to his knees. As he knelt shaking and confused, Dawn set the point of a black-bladed, long-bladed knife to his throat, making sure he saw the blade first. His eyes widened and he swallowed, the knife tip nicking the skin of his throat so that he could feel a trickle of blood against his flesh. Buffy and Spike watched, eyes almost as wide and confused as the Kridjatori.

Spike muttered to himself but loud enough for Buffy to catch it,

"What the bloody, buggery hell is she playing at? He's almost pissing himself! He _has_ pissed himself!"

Buffy muttered an irrelevant,

"What_ is_ it with vamps and that disgusting sniffing thing?"

Whatever Dawn was doing was having a hypnotic affect on the filthy beast. Buffy decided that her sister looked, no _was_, terrifying. The blue light, the scarred cheek, the confident stance of a fighter who had the upper hand, Dawn was all this and more. Buffy opened her mouth to speak but the Kridjatori began to babble and gush and Dawn's face and body grew rigid with shock and, increasingly, with fury. Finally the beast ran out of answers and Dawn ran out of questions. Almost casually the girl stepped up behind the Kridjatori, who stayed as still as a rabbit hypnotised by a snake, and cut his throat with one sure sweep of the knife, thrusting the jerking body away and avoiding the jet of blood.

She bent over and wiped the knife clean of blood on the Kridjatori's shirt and when she stood and turned to face them, she said thoughtfully,

"I forgot about Strega's damn bear-cat! I'm gonna need a lot of water to make my scent hard to follow."

As she looked about Spike pointed towards the end of the alley,

"There's a fire hydrant. That do the job, Bit?"

"Uh-huh. We should be able to kick it over and .."

A grunt and a creak of fractured steel and the jet of water fountained high into the air and poured on the body in its pool of blood.

Dawn nodded to herself in satisfaction and gave the others a slight smile.

"We seem to have a small problem, folks. The slavers have heard about all the slayers and it seems that Hadretz has gone off to capture one or two so he and Strega can decide if they really are as tough as they're cracked up to be. Buffy, you and Giles need to contact those closest to us and tell them to get the hell out andyesterday would have been way safer! Then we're gonna need the witch to get her powerful butt to L.A. to help with the warlock."

She shook her head, kicked an empty coke can almost thirty feet into the air and muttered,

"This is just great. Witches, warlocks, Watchers, Slayers, vamps, Kridjatori and a damn bear-cat! Shit, I _knew_ I should've gone back to bead when the tooth paste fell off of my brush this morning! That's _never _a good sign."

Just a quick note to say thanks to everybody for the nice reviews. I haven't been writing long, as I'm sure you can tell, and I know I'm a bit slow but I really do want to do it right, so Ihope you will all be a little patient with me please. This chapter took longer because of a nasty detour to the dentist butchapters 7 and 8 are almost ready.


	7. Chapter 7

Giles, Angel and Adanar were sitting at the dining room table when the others came in, Dawn in the lead. The strong scent of liniment hung over the vamp and the Ganaru and she wrinkled her nose and asked Angel,

"So how goes the whole healing Ganaru voodoo thing?"

He answered with a cheerful smile,

"Terrific! Adanar had me on my feet tonight and I'm getting around on the crutches."

"Oh goody, maybe you can take me dancing next Saturday? He never takes me out anymore."

Spike complained to Buffy, earning a scowl from his Sire when he ruffled Angel's hair on his way past him.

"Maybe he's ashamed to be seen with you in public. Now shut up and let Dawnie explain _what_ just happened out there and _why_ we need to get the Slayers back to England and Will to L.A."

Buffy was short with him, plainly concerned for the safety of the Slayers and their few remaining Watchers.

"What happened? How are the girls in danger?"

Giles wanted to know.

Spike had his head in the cupboard that served as the bar when he answered and his voice had an odd echoing effect.

"Dawn found a lone Kidjatori who was as drunk as a lord and enticed him into an alley so she could give us an object lesson in how to pound the buggers to pulp but somehow talked him into kneeling down patiently until she got tired of the conversation and cut his throat. Ah _there_ you are you lovely thing you!"

He lovingly cradled a bottle of bourbon as he returned to the table and commented,

"It was the damnedest thing I ever saw! Bloody well had him so scared he pissed himself and just _let_ her damn near decapitate him!"

As Spike twisted the top off the bottle and took a long swallow, Buffy sat across from Dawn and demanded,

"What was all that '_Dawn_' stuff anyway? And what do you mean about the warlock being out trying to capture a Slayer?"

"He is. You have to trust me on this thing and phone those girls closest to L.A. now and tell them to get to an airport and get to New York or England or the North Pole or wherever but do it _fast_! He _hasn't _got a portal device but he _can _teleport. That I _do_ know! I just don't know how far or how much of his strength it takes."

Dawn glared at Spike, took the bottle from him and got up to fetch glasses from the kitchen, bringing back a bowl of ice cubes as well.

Giles thought for half a minute before telling Buffy, as he pulled out his cell phone,

"You call Willow; I'll call Faith in Mexico City and Ambrose St. John in Cleveland. Oh, and tell Willow to leave Kennedy in Rio until we know what is happening here. Even the more experienced girls are still undergoing their training and a warlock is something they've not come up against as yet. Dawn's right; we can't take a chance on inter-dimensional slavers finding out that the Slayers are an attractive, potentially valuable proposition. It's a threat we don't want hanging over us continually if it is at all possible to avoid."

For the next few minutes there were four conversations going on; the two phone calls, Spike telling Angel about Dawn's encounter with the Kridjatori and Adanar questioning Dawn in Kridjatori, although the latter sounded more like an interrogation tending towards an argument. Finally, calls made and things set in motion, every one turned expectantly to Dawn.

"Ok. But first .. What I did out there was _way_ juvenile; trying to impress Buffy was plain stupid and dangerous. I made a total idiot of myself because I've been saying how dangerous these guys are and then I go and act so dumb."

Dawn was contrite as she looked at Adanar and explained,

"The idiot was so drunk, way over confident and bouncing off the walls because he was totally not adjusted to the gravity that I couldn't resist stirring him up first. No excuse, I know."

Adanar shook his head and gave her a disappointed look,

"It _was_ stupid, Dawn. If you had misjudged and Buffy and Spike had to rescue you then they may have been injured needlessly. You know your fighting abilities _are_ good but you must remember that the strength and speed you have are temporary and _decreasing_ daily; all the training with weights you do can not maintain the levels you had when we first arrived."

She was subdued as she returned to the subject of the dead Kridjatori,

"Kidjatori are unbelievably superstitious and they have this thing about names having all kinds of significance and mine sounds just like their Dorhn; who is this mythic demi-goddess they're terrified of. They would _never_ let me use my own name, especially in the Death Ring and one of the other slaves taught me this whole chant-poem routine that always made them jumpy."

She shook her head, plainly perplexed,

"He totally went into this weird terror state! I did the 'I am Dorhn; She who slays the last dark of night' and all that gibberish and he just started to babble; it was way _strange_ Adanar. But one thing he told me was that Strega and Hadretz had heard of all these superwomen 'Slayers' and wanted to capture some to see if the story was true. Hadretz cast a locate spell and left to look for one at the closest place, which must be Mexico City, mustn't it Giles?"

"Yes, it is. Faith is there with Robin. She's the only Slayer closer than Cleveland. She offered to come up and help but she's still a fugitive in the States so she has agreed to go to Rio and link up with Kennedy until Willow returns. What did Willow say, Buffy?"

"She's catching the next plane to L.A. and will let us know what time she lands."

Buffy watched Dawn carefully as she said,

"She was stunned to know that you were back and I tried to explain that you're my not-so-little sister anymore. Will didn't ask why we hadn't let her know but she sounded relieved, worried and guilty all at once. What happens when she gets here, Dawnie?"

Dawn stared at the floor for long, silent minutes. She finally straightened and spoke, carefully choosing her words.

"I'm not about to kill her, if that's what you're worried about. She's the only one capable of dealing with Hadretz and who can work with all of us. But I _can't _promise that I'm gonna be able to bite my tongue the entire time she's around. Look, I can accept and excuse what she did _intellectually_ and I know it was _Warren's_ fault I got stuck between Will and Hell. Trouble is .. if she's nearby after one of my classic scream the place down nightmares? Well .. I'll probably use a lot of words mom would have fed me soap for a _week_ for saying."

Angel broke the silence that followed, leaning forward to pour him self another shot of bourbon he told Dawn,

"That works for me. I think Willow will find that a _generous_ attitude for you to take, don't you Giles?"

"Oh, yes. As you say Dawn, the intellectual is quite separate from the emotional and much harder to control. I am sure Willow does _not_ expect you to welcome her with unconditional love and forgiveness."

Buffy smiled at Dawn gratefully,

"She'll just be relieved and happy that you're here to call her any name you want to. Thanks Dawnie, I know how hard seeing Will is going to be for you. And the showing off thing? You've got _nothing _to prove to me or anyone; I'm not sure _I_ could have survived the way you did and still been sane! I'm just proud to be _your_ sister and I think you're gonna be _way _hard to live up to!"


	8. Chapter 8

Dawn felt restless with no one to talk to and a hard decision to make. Buffy was back at the hotel attending to Slayer business over the internet; Giles and Adanar were in the study surrounded by piles of books; Spike had gone to spend the evening with Gunn, whom Dawn had collected from hospital and brought to visit with Angel and now Angel had another visitor, a young man he had helped and stayed in touch with afterwards. From where she sat on the wide, vine covered patio at the back of the house Dawn could hear faint laughter drifting from Angel's room; Connor must be amusing company, she thought. Nina visited almost everyday and Angel had been desperate to see Gunn and looking forward to seeing Connor. It was odd to find that Angel had a life that Buffy had no part in. One that seemed to make him a lot more cheerful than the guy she remembered from his Sunnydale days.

Coffee cooled in the untouched mug on the table beside her and a glossy magazine lay opened but unread in front of her. She was so deep in thought that hearing Angel and Connor saying goodbye brought her attention back to the present to find that it was almost dark. She stood up and went into the house to show Connor out. He and Angel were laughing together at some tale of Connor's,

" .. made a _complete_ idiot of myself! I walked straight into the locked glass doors and if _that_ wasn't embarrassing enough, I tripped over the crash cart and got blasted by Dr. Seymour! I think she agreed to go for coffee and something to eat out of pity but hey, it's a start!"

"You'll be fine, just don't take her out for Italian, spaghetti can be murder. If you go for Chinese, leave the chop sticks alone or you could end up with a lap full of fried rice. Actually, I'd play safe and go for pizza, that's usually idiot proof."

Angel advised with a smile.

Connor sighed and muttered,

"Oh _please_. Mozzarella can stretch for miles you know. I'm up to my ears in assignments this week so I might not get over again until next week sometime, okay? Bye Dawn, nice to meet you."

"You too, Connor. Come by anytime, I think Angel's probably tired of the same old faces all the time."

Dawn closed and locked the front door behind him. Angel hadn't returned to his room and she found him sitting at the patio table, watching the fading colours of sunset. She picked up the mug and pulled a face as she sipped the now cold coffee but couldn't be bothered making another cup. Moving the magazine from her chair to the table, she sat and asked diffidently,

"Can I ask you for some advice Angel? Adanar's been on my case and I'm not sure whether he's right in this particular instance or not."

"I can guess what he's been after. He thinks you should sit everyone down and tell them about your life on Kridjator. I know he's worried about you."

And so am I, he thought, you can't keep it bottled up for much longer.

"He's talked to you? No wonder Ganaru don't need shrinks; they're all little Freud clones!"

She grumbled.

"So what do you think?"

"It might help to cut down on the number of times you scream yourself awake, Dawn. And give us a bit more background information on what to expect from these slavers."

He tried to sound non-committal but he watched her closely. She had a habit of touching the scars on her face when she worried. She was stroking them lightly as she thought over what he said.

"Won't it seem like I'm kicking the witch? Most of it's just awful but .. There are things .. Some things I don't want to, _can't _talk about. Not just yet; maybe never. You've been to Hell, maybe not one with a civilization but even an organised Hell is …"

"Unspeakably horrendous? Mind numbingly terrifying?"

She nodded and he told her quietly,

"I deserved _my _stint in hell; and more. You didn't. Neither did Adanar. Nor will any Slayers, ordinary people or even some demons, if the slavers get their hands on them. If hearing the truth of what happened to you hurts, then Willow will just have to bear it. She was responsible for it, even though she will never forgive herself for letting the dark side take over. Buffy needs to hear it so that she can get to know the Dawn who came back. I think talking about it might be good for you too. And _that's _what matters the most."

They sat in silence for a few minutes, until Dawn found herself being bitten by mosquitos. Slapping at one she swore softly, uttering Spike's favourite curse,

"Bloody, buggery hell! Now I'm gonna be scratching all night! Do vamps get bitten by mosquitos or fleas or things like that?"

"Only after we've just fed and happen to be hanging about in a swamp for some strange reason."

"Damn! I've got to go in before I lose so much blood that I get Slayers coming after me with stakes."

She slapped another one as Angel laughed and reached for his crutches.

Dawn switched on the light in the large kitchen and Angel settled at the table while she began peeling and chopping vegetables for dinner. She gave him a steady glance and commented,

"You know I don't think I ever heard you laugh in Sunnydale. Come to think of it, you never even seemed to smile all that much! And you've got such a great smile too, it lights up your whole face."

He didn't answer and she took a closer look, breaking into a wide smile of her own.

"Are you embarrassed? You _are_, aren't you? That's so _cute_."

He looked horrified, glanced around hastily and warned her,

"If you _ever _say that in front of other people, _especially _Spike, I'll have to kill you! A vamp _can't_ be 'cute'! It's … demoralising!"

"Kill me, huh? I haven't lost all of my Kridjator acquired speed and strength. I could dust you with one of your crutches _and_ vacuum away the evidence before anyone even knew you were missing!"

"Just when did you get to be so seriously scary?"

"Might have been about the same time I learned Buffy had stuff she didn't want mom to know and would pay me to keep quiet."

"Ooh, blackmail is such a _nasty_ habit for a sweet little girl to fall into!"

Dawn sounded puzzled,

"I was a sweet little girl? Besides sometimes she would just threaten me with painful ways of dying. Oh, hi Giles. Are you staying to eat? I'm doing chicken stir-fry. Do you think I should talk about what happened on Kridjator? I'm taking a bit of a poll on the subject."

Giles blinked at her slightly chaotic train of thought.

"Oh, I agree. It would do you good to talk out a few of your demons and we could all learn a great deal about how the slavers fight and choose their captives. And yes, I should like to stay for dinner. Er, you _have_ learned how to cook? I seem to remember a certain cake you once baked and insisted we all have a piece. It had a strong taste of baking powder as I recall."

She shrugged and wondered,

"Teaspoon; tablespoon; I thought they were the same thing from the abbreviations."

Angel thought out loud,

"Note to self; watch how much garlic Dawn adds to spaghetti sauce."

She scoffed,

"Yeah. Like you ever actually eat anything! I'd say garlic is a herb that should be used in quantity when sharing a house with a vamp! They say it keeps the blood healthy."

"It definitely keeps the blood _in_! And it's nothing to do with old vampire lore; the stuff just damn well makes the breath stink enough to keep any creature away."

Angel announced. And learned that Dawn could put enough muscle power into hurling a wet dishcloth to make it both sting and expel a goodly amount of water when it came into contact with a vamp's face. There was nothing too shabby about her aim, either.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9:

Angel answered the phone, Dawn was washing up and Adanar was seeing Giles to the door.  
"Hello Buffy. He's just leaving. Oh. I see. No, he's still here. Dawn? I'll call her."

Giles stopped and turned at the sound of his name and Dawn came in from the kitchen, drying her hands on a cloth. Angel held out the handset, saying,  
"Willow just arrived at the hotel. Buffy wants to talk to you."

Dawn took the receiver gingerly and was relieved to hear Buffy's voice,  
"Hi. Yeah, I heard. No, not tonight; tomorrow evening after dark will be better. I'd like everyone to be here, Giles will explain. Oh, tell her not to use her magic if she can help it. If Hadretz is back I don't want him picking up any trace of her power. She _could_ be our ace in the hole. Okay, see you then. Bye."

As she hung up the phone she said,  
"Willow should be over her jet lag by then and she should be told she could be in for an uncomfortable time. Just … I'm _not_ out to get back at her Giles, could you please let her know? It's time Adanar and I explained what Kridjator was like and how the slavers work. Fighting blind usually ends up being a complete disaster."

Giles nodded,  
"I think you've made the right decision Dawn. I know it will be harder for you to talk about it then for us to hear it. Although I must say I'm not looking forward to hearing it myself. I'll see you all then."

Dawn turned to Angel before going back to finish the dishes,  
"Could you phone Spike for me? If he's still with Gunn he could see if he wants to be here too. If I decide to stay on in L.A., I'll want a job with 'Angel Investigations' and this way I don't have to repeat it all later."

Spike and Gunn were on their second coke flavoured bourbons when Angel called. Gunn was pleased to be home among his own things, although the small mementos of Wesley and Fred had brought the sting of tears to his eyes. Spike pretended not to see and had handed him a large glass with a cheery,  
"Get this into you mate."

"Aah, just what the doctor _didn't_ order! Better than any happy pill. Say, is Angel _on_ anything? I thought you said he was at his gloomy worst but he seemed almost sociable this afternoon."  
Gunn asked.

"Creepy, isn't it? I thought maybe Adanar's healing touch had some sort of antidepressant effect, but he said no. I got so curious I broke down and asked the poncy git if he had taken up smiling _just _to get up my nose. He says he felt ashamed to be so down in the dumps when Dawn and Adanar had been through a worse time and aren't forever moaning about it. You need a refill. I'll have one so you're not drinking alone; start that and it's a quick slide to the bottom you know."  
The vamp was pleased to hear Gunn laugh at the weak joke.

So now Gunn listened to the one-sided conversation with growing interest.

"Yeah? What's up Peaches? _Please_ tell me you've turned back into a puppet; that'd really make my night! She is? Dawnie wants Gunn there too? Sure I'll ask him, hang on. Red just got to town and Dawnie's gonna tell us all about Club Hell tomorrow night and you're invited. Interested? Yeah, he'll be there. Okay. I'll collect him on my way."

He shoved the phone back in his pocket and lifted his drink. Gunn commented,  
"We could be in for an exciting time. I can only _imagine_ what I'd do to someone who sent me to Hell for six years. I remember the state Fred .."

His words tailed off and Spike mused out loud,  
"I've had a glimpse of _my_ bloody after life and I'm not looking forward to taking up permanent residence, even if I do deserve it! But Bit's not a natural born killer; odds are that she won't even take a swing at Red. They were friends before Will lost the plot. I should have been on her shit list too; promised her I wouldn't let anyone hurt her again and then I wasn't around when she needed me most. Got a huge heart, has Dawnie. Just like her mom. Joyce was good people, kind, even to a lowlife vamp like me. Top up?"

Buffy accepted the room service tray and sat it on the coffee table, pouring coffee for herself and Willow. The little witch was red-eyed, pale and Buffy noted the way her were hands clasped in her lap with the fingers so entwined that the knuckles were a bloodless white. She felt a pang of sympathy for her friend and tried to soothe her.  
"It'll be _fine_ Will, you'll see. It's not gonna be easy for any of us but as angry and hurt Dawnie might be right now, she's not out for revenge. And if Angel or Spike is a bit cool, it's me and Giles they've got the problem with for not sending them any help and distrusting them."

"I can't imagine either of them carrying a grudge against you. Especially Angel, since he had the rest of them thinking he _might _have gone over to the senior partners."  
Willow raised her cup gingerly, trying to control the fine tremor in her hands, grateful for the change of subject.

"Apparently there's a bit of history between them and my new boyfriend; something to do with Dru and Darla."  
She tried to sound off hand as she told Willow,  
"I met Angel's girlfriend Nina the other day. She seems nice."

"_Angel's_ got a girlfriend? That's …unexpected."  
She struggled to find the right word but failed. She gave her friend a long, searching look.  
"And you're all right with it? No stab-y pangs to the heart or a little green eyed monster jumping up and down in your mind? Because, you know, Angel having a girlfriend is a much bigger deal than Riley having a wife and _that_ shook you up a little."

"We haven't been a couple for a few years, remember? It's always been 'maybe one day when the time is right' but nothing carved in stone. I should be happy for him, having someone in his life."  
She sounded a little doubtful.

"So what's Spike's problem? I mean he didn't even tell you he was back, did he? Mind you, the thought of him being a ghost and haunting Angel is _way_ funny when you think about it."  
She caught Buffy's eye and they began to laugh at the absurdity of a ghost Spike and a haunted Angel.

"Can you imagine _not _being to shut Spike out? Or up, for that matter?"  
Buffy giggled.

Will's imagination went into overdrive and she laughed even harder before deciding,  
"I should think having Spike wise-cracking day and night without being able to dust him ought to count in Angel's favour with the whole Shansu deal."

"Yeah, talk about 'cruel and unusual punishment'. It'd have to be right up there with being drowned in a vat of cod liver oil or being back at school with Principal Snyder!"  
Buffy offered.

By the time Giles joined them, Willow was more like her old self, much to Buffy's relief. Willow had done some research on Tarethian magic and the three of them settled in to discuss magical tactics.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10.

Adanar answered the door and greeted Buffy and Giles warmly. Willow hung back nervously until the Ganaru noticed and gave her a friendly smile, saying gently in his musical voice,  
"So you are Willow. I feel your magic and you are powerful indeed. We must sit down together and discuss the way magic functions on this plane. Dawn told me all she knew but there is only so much an observer can truly appreciate and understand, isn't there?"

He ushered her into the dining room to join the group sitting about the table and her nervousness was not as overwhelming as it had been. Dawn came in from the kitchen bearing a tray of coffee, mugs, sugar, cream and a pot of tea for Giles. As they faced each other for the first time an awkward silence fell until Dawn broke it by saying calmly,  
"Hello Willow. I wasn't sure if you'd prefer coffee or tea but I'm sure there is enough tea for you and Giles to share. Unless you're feeling up to trying to pry the bourbon out of the ghostie's dead hand and he's _so_ not into the sharing thing."

Spike gave her an offended glance and stated,  
"I'm sure it's not politically correct for you to discriminate against me simply because I occasionally dematerialise, Dawn. It must qualify as being species-ist, don't you think Rupert? And I resent the implication that I'm greedy! I'm not, am I Gunn?"

"I wish you hadn't been quite _so_ hot on sharing last night."  
Gunn muttered while trying hard to keep his head from making even the slightest movement. Angel gave him a look of disbelief and demanded to know,  
"You got _drunk_ with Spike last night? After the doctors advised you not to drink for a couple of months? What were you _thinking_! What was _Spike_ thinking?"

"Not much thinking going on after the first few, eh Charlie?"  
Spike said cheerfully, ignoring the disgusted glance Angel bestowed on him. Before the two vampires could get into one of their interminable slanging matches Dawn put an end to it by reminding them firmly,  
"We're not here to provide an audience for you pair of testosterone fuelled, un-dead alpha males! So if you _must_ butt heads do it by glaring silently at each other."

She waited until they had settled back onto their chairs and pointedly began ignoring each other.  
"That's better. This is going to be hard enough without having to try to be heard over the top of you two. Ok, first thing I'm going to do is give you a list of my unpleasant experiences so that you can all just accept them as happening frequently and as being part and parcel of being a slave, a female slave. Beatings, whippings, rape, starvation, being in chains, long hours of very hard labour, being inspected when up for sale; indifferent, bad or cruel owners, lack of sleep, the constant fear of punishment or death and all kinds of psychological abuse and torture."

Dawn looked at them one by one and said,  
"There are some things that are horrible to think about and others you won't hear because I spend twenty four hours a day avoiding _any_ thought of them. I didn't meet Adanar until I'd been there just over three years, so when we get to that part he'll tell you about being captured by the slavers and taken to Kridjator. If you have any questions please wait until I finish, because I don't really want to be talking about Kridjator at all, so just let me get it over and done with, ok?"

They either nodded or murmured their assent. Willow was twisting her hands until the handkerchief she held was shredded. Dawn took a deep breath and began her story by telling them that the Kridjatori were a violent, brutal, unpredictable and extremely superstitious race who indulged in blood sacrifice to placate their many murderous gods.

Of her own ordeal, she told them that Warren had died by the time she had regained her senses after going through the portal. Barely able to move and in shock she was found by a desert trader and his slaves. Because she wore no metal collar and cuffs, he suspected that she was an escapee and kept her tied had and foot and tossed into the back of a cart. During the month it took them to cross a barren plain and reach a large oasis deep in a long gorge,Dawn had considered trying to escape but the heavier gravity and the meagre thorny shrubs of the desert were too forbidding.

By the time they reached the city in the gorge, Karlten, Dawn had managed to pick up a little of the language used by and to slaves. The trader handed her over to the city Slave-master who, after keeping her in the punishment cells while he investigated how a slave came to be un-banded, finally sold her to a brothel owner. At the brothel she had been amazed to discover how many of the girls, women and a few young boys had been captured by slavers in other dimensions and from other worlds. Earth-human women were rare; they did not stand either the gravity or the brutality well enough to make them profitable. She had been there for almost four months when her owner brought a Samarian trader to inspect his stock.

This was Strega, the same Samarian who was in L.A. at the moment. Dawn had rapidly learned the language, the common slave tongue being used between Kridjatori and allies as well as between slaves and the masters. From snatches of over heard conversation, the gossip of guards and other slaves she learned that Strega and his partner in the slave trade, Hadretz, had offered the Kridjatori a method of using genetic testing to help improve their slave 'breeding stock' and the implications appalled her.

"I had to get out of there _before _they tested me."  
She told Buffy earnestly,  
"I might not be a Slayer but I have _your _genetic code and that's why I survived when other humans couldn't. If they found something in my genes there was every chance they'd breed from me _and _come looking for others like me. I _couldn't_ take that risk! So I did this."  
She touched her scarred cheek briefly.

Buffy shook her head slowly, tears filling her eyes and her voice husky as she told her sister,  
"You did _that_ to protect me? Oh Dawnie, that's .."  
She was unable to finish and it was left to Gunn to tell Dawn,  
"One of the gutsiest things I've ever heard of! You can cover my back anytime!"

Willow's eyes widened as something occurred to her,  
"If you _hadn't_ done that then the First probably would have won! We couldn't have protected the potentials from the First _and_ the slavers at the same time! It would have tipped the balance in the First's favour."

Dawn shrugged,  
"You guys would have managed. The Scoobies have _always_ managed to scramble to the top somehow. Anyway, it got me a trip to the punishment cells and a new job in a Berdea mine. Berdea mining is a hell all on its own."

She described conditions as being comparable to concentration camps, Soviet gulags and Devils Island. Cold, damp, stuffy caverns and tunnels too narrow and too low to move anyway but by crawling, cramped cells, starvation rations, brutal guards and working sixteen hours a day made the death rate soar to unbelievable levels. The Berdea crystals themselves were dangerous to mine; the dust settling in the lungs killed some by drowning them in their own blood while tiny particles lodged themselves under fingernails and the skin, causing nails to fall off and great ulcers that could lead to death by blood poisoning.

She fell silent, staring into the middle distance as she relived rather than related one incident.  
"There were eight children there when I arrived; the result of slave women being part of the perks of the job. One was almost five but most were under two years; thin, starved, big eyed kids like on famine posters. They never left the cells, they were left on their own while their mothers worked and more than one baby died from rat bites. But the owner let them remain with their mothers."

She stopped, lifted her mug of coffee with a trembling hand and tried to moisten her dry mouth before she went on,  
"Until the day he decided to 'cull the unproductive' mouths. We could hear them screaming all the way down into the shafts we were working. The mothers were frantic and the guards clubbed one woman who tried to get out of the tunnel to death. It went quiet after fifteen minutes or so and we still had seven hours left to work. Knowing we'd find something ….. "

Dawn closed her eyes and a tear escaped to trickle down her cheek. Then her eyes flew open, as if the image on the back of her eyelids was too painful to bear seeing. The room was silent,  
"They were all dead of course. The smallest three had been swung against the cell walls. There was blood and brain matter every where and they'd thrown the bodies down the hole that opened to the cesspit below the cells. We lived there, with the children …"

She fell silent and they all sat, horrified, outraged and shuddering at the thought of such casual cruelty. After a minute or two Dawn began again, eager to move past the incident.  
"Not long after that I began stealing the best crystals, just as a way of making myself believe I _would_ escape one day. One day I got into a fight with one of the guards who'd kicked a pregnant girl to death because her morning sickness slowed her down. I did a _damn fine_ job on him; he got a few punches in, broke some ribs, but I managed to get his whip away from him, flogged him to his knees and strangled him with it! They'd have killed me but a visiting Death Ring owner offered to buy me for a good sum. I was able to smuggle my crystals out with me."

She told them how she was trained to use swords, axes and javelins for fighting in the Ring. How she had fought badly at first and suffered several injuries until she learned the craft of a gladiator. Of the companionship of the other fighters and how difficult it was to find yourself in a duel to the death with friends. But she had learned and fought hard and survived long enough to become a 'paired' with the Ganaru healer, Adanar.

She finally stopped and stretched, suggesting,  
"We all need a break and a drink before Adanar tells you his story. Damn the coffee, hand over the bourbon Spike."


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11.

As Dawn reached for the bottle of bourbon Adanar began quietly,  
"Dawn, why do you believe it necessary to dehydrate… "  
Before he could finish, he looked over towards Spike and Gunn with a grin and stretched out her hand, saying gleefully,  
"Ante up guys! Unless you need to hear the whole 'dehydrate your system, lower your levels of vitamin B, depress optimum intellectual function and destroy healthy brain cells' lecture?"

Spike tossed her a twenty dollar note, asking a bemused Adanar,  
"Did she get you to say that? Are you in on it with her?"  
"A fifty-fifty set up? You mean we've beenhad?"  
Gunn wanted to know as he handed his money over.  
"I'm afraid I do not .. Oh, is _this_ gambling? Dawn, are you taking money merely for knowing me better than do Spike and Gunn?"  
Adanar sounded scandalised but amused.

"You bettcha! Easy money my friend."  
She stuffed the notes into her jeans pockets and stood up, asking the room,  
"Who'd like coffee or tea? Stop scowling Spike and I'll make chocolate with marshmallows if you'd like?"  
Spike eyed her hopefully,  
"The tiny ones Joyce always used?"  
"Uh huh, just like mom used to make."

"How can you _do_ that?"  
Willow sank back on the sofa as if regretting her impulsive words. Dawn looked confused,  
"What? Gamble with Spike and Gunn? Or make chocolate?"  
Willow asked,  
"Relive all that .. horror and then be so .. _normal_?"

Dawn gazed at her and the pale, haunted face softened her so that she spoke kindly.  
"Come on Will, it's what I used to see the Scoobies doing all the time; laughing the scary stuff off. I learned enough from being around you guys to give me an advantage when surviving."

Like what?"  
Buffy wanted to know. Dawn cleared a space on the coffee table in front of Willow and sat facing her. She answered her sister's question while looking at the little witch.  
"Well, I already knew about evil; everything that happened to me is happening to some other girl here on Earth at this very minute. Even fighting in the Death Ring was retro Roman Empire. Slavery hasn't gone, the mines are like those Russian places; the Gulags. Humans have managed to come up with an impressive array of torture over the centuries."

Giles nodded his agreement as she continued,  
"Then there's living in the Hellmouth. If I hadn't lived there just the shock of coming across demons would have driven me crazy like the other humans I came across. Remember how people lived in Sunnydale and never _saw_ the demons? Or refused to believe they were _real_? But I had demon babysitters and werewolves and vengeance demons dropped in for coffee! Weird _is_ normal to me."

She reminded Willow, with a quiet laugh and a wave of the hand,  
"Look around this room; vampires of the souled variety, a Watcher, _the_ Slayer, a powerful witch and a Ganaru demon. Heck, Gunn's the only 'normal' human here and _he_ runs around killing mythological creatures without having to use a video game; _so_ not normal! I still haven't figured out if I qualify as human or if I'm half demonic."

Willow winced at a reminder of how she had taunted Dawn with not being human before opening the portal. She began,  
"Dawnie I know I was _horrible_ but I didn't .."  
Dawn reached out and squeezed Willows hand and found it almost ice cold.  
"I _know_ Will. But in a weird way it gave me the greatest edge of all."

She saw their confusion and explained,  
"I decided that the 'ball of energy me' was super powerful enough to keep me alive! It helps to survive a place like Kridjator if you get rid of inbuilt moral standards that prevent you doing _whatever_ you need to do to survive so, believing I'm only half human made that easier. Of course having a Slayer's D.N.A. helped; my reflexes, strength and healing power are top-of-the-line for humans."

Dawn turned to look at Buffy,  
"All those training sessions I moaned about being dragged along to watch you doing? At least I knew what the pointy end of a sword was for! I absorbed a hell of a lot of demonology from all those dusty books of Giles'; I can swear fluently in nine or ten languages now!"

She sounded very pleased with herself until Adanar broke in cheerfully,  
"Remind me to tell you about her record of non-stop cursing without repeating a single word! Twenty three minutes and nineteen seconds! All while she was running through a cactus forest with a .."  
"I thought we agreed _that_ particular story was not to be told again? It wasn't all _that _funny anyway."  
He returned Dawn's glare with a wide smile and she shrugged before turning back to Willow.

Softly she admitted,  
"I'm so _not_ normal Will. I'm half crazy and saying I have 'mood swings' is like saying a leper has 'a slight skin problem'. I know you would have tried your _damnedest_ to get me back and I know you _were_ half insane with grief when you opened that portal. I wish I _could_ tell you that I forgive you, even if only because it's what Tara would have wanted, but I can't. Not yet anyway; it's all still too close, too painful. But I'll try, okay?"

Willow wiped her eyes and dredged up a watery smile from somewhere,  
"Thanks Dawnie, it means a lot that you _want_ to. I'm so sorry."  
"Yeah, I know. Now, who wants that coffee? Then Adanar can tell us how the slavers work and we'll try and remember everything we know about Hadretz and Strega."

Giles followed Dawn into the kitchen carrying the dirty mugs and glasses. He washed and dried them while she busied herself making hot chocolate. He polished his glasses and returned them to his face and smiling she told him,  
"Whenever I thought of you Giles I pictured you polishing your glasses, or pinching the bridge of your nose when we did something that gave you a headache."

His smile was slightly bewildered but when he spoke it was to say gratefully,  
"You handled Willow with great sensitivity Dawn, especially after recounting your harrowing experiences. I'm not naive enough to believe we have heard the worst that you endured but to try and reach out to Willow was more than generous, given the circumstances."

She shrugged, lifted the heavy tray and said,  
"Yeah, well she wouldn't be much use to us if she was busy doing the whole 'mea culpa' thing. And I can see she's been beating herself up over it. Let's go let Adanar tell his tale of woe, shall we? Before that lot worm that stupid swearing story out of him!"


	12. Chapter 12

Towards morning. Chapter 12.doc

Adanar's story was brief, simple and heart breaking when told in his gentle, musical voice. He lovingly described a harshly beautiful world that was not populous and how his ancient race had developed various psychic abilities that enabled them to avoid having to use resource costly technology. Warfare had never been an option among a people few in numbers and needing to work hard to ensure a comfortable existence and the sustainable numbers necessary for its survival. Thus violence, while not unknown, was very much an aberration and when slavers arrived they had few defences.

"They came while we were at the temple; almost the entire village of three hundred and thirty six. The only ones not there were the mid-wife, the weaver and his wife, my sister, who was in labour with her second child. It seems doubly cruel to me that they came for us during the hymn of thanksgiving for the harvest, as it was an especially bountiful harvest that year."

He was silent for a moment, remembering how the happy looks had changed into uncertainty before finally replaced by fear, pain and terror.

"Strega led the raid; he had a force of ten Kridjatori. The temple has narrow windows and the two doors are opposite each other so that we were trapped between them. At first we were so shocked that they found it absurdly easy to divide us roughly into three groups using their whips, hardwood clubs and spears. Then they herded us outside and began killing the very old and the very young, which proved to be an error of judgement on Strega's part."

A brief, wry smile flickered across Adanar's face for an instant as he admitted,

"We are _not _a violent people, as I have said, but nor are we a _cowardly_ folk. A few of us men and some of the women made a break for it and were able to arm ourselves with whatever came to hand; mostly farm implements or logs and branches from the woodpiles. We fought and even killed and wounded three or four of them and were able to give a few of the older children and others time to escape into the woods before we were either cut down or disarmed. Far too few; perhaps twenty children, four or five women and eight or nine of the elderly escaped without being re-captured later."

He shook his head and his voice faltered as he told them of the suffering inflicted on his people. Of how the men were tightly bound and forced to watch as girls as young as seven and women as old as eighty were repeatedly raped. Of how the elderly were killed along with children too young to walk and of how his sister gave birth to a son only to see the baby dashed against a wall and her husband hacked and beaten to death next to the bed where she lay dying from shock and blood loss. An entire village brutalised, butchered, burnt and left a graveyard. Over two thirds of the villagers were killed out of hand and barely seventy taken as slaves.

Adanar still had one tiny spark of hope,

"My mother snatched up my baby daughter and I saw her reach the forest fringe. They were not among those the slavers recaptured, so perhaps they made it through the forest to the nearest village fifteen miles away. It eases me to _believe_ so. We were driven through a portal within three hours of the attack on the temple and found ourselves on Kridjator, where I and three other healers were sold. The rest we never saw nor heard of again. Later I heard that both my friends had died; one in the mines and the other in the punishment cells. I spent a year or so tending slaves for a mine owner and Death Ring supplier. And that is how I met Dawn and became a fighter myself."

Adanar fell silent for a few moments before turning to Dawn and saying uncertainly,

"Remembering back makes me think that perhaps we are right and Strega _does_ have that one tiny flaw when he fights. I am almost positive that he left himself open for a few seconds when he had to subdue Coran. Our miller was very strong and fought hard to protect his wife and daughter and I think Strega was surprised at his resistance."

He flushed suddenly, stood up while muttering an apology,

"I shall not be long but I have to … "

"Maybe someone should ..?"

Angel made to follow him but Dawn shook her head and told him,

"No, he's okay. Ganaru have a belief that mentioning those who have died through violence or severe trauma by name disturbs their peace and causes them pain. He's just gone to pray for them to forgive him."

She added ruefully,

"He'll even ask the Kridjatori who were killed for forgiveness too, believe it or not. It's like having a saint for a best friend sometimes. He couldn't believe I liked to dream up incredibly nasty ideas for revenge on them and in the end we agreed that I wouldn't tell him my daydreams if he stopped trying to convert me to pacifism."

Gunn noticed Spike was unable to hide a fleeting pained wince as she named the Ganaru her 'best friend' and to distract the others he mused out loud,

"Ever noticed how unimaginative evil is? I mean my ancestors might have been captured in just the same way. And it could have been a Jewish ghetto being raided by Nazi's he was talking about, don't you think?"

"I can remember one or two European villages _we_ visited that were almost wiped out. There is a sameness to torture and killing though. All that really changes is how long and the scale of it."

Spike muttered guiltily and seemed surprised when Angel nodded in agreement and spared him a rare glance of approval.

Buffy was more interested in knowing,

"What was he saying about Strega having a weakness in his fighting?"

Frowning and sounding unsure Dawn answered,

"It's probably nothing but we've seen him fight four times and he has this .. Strega likes using a whip in his left hand to entangle his opponents weapon arm and then he reels them in kinda like a fisherman does a game fish; tiring them out before pulling them on to his short sword. For the added torture, you know? But there's a few seconds when he's reeling them closer that he turns his body slightly front on that _looks_ like an opening you could maybe take advantage of by jerking back on the whip and lunging forward to stab him at the same time. Does that make any sense? Anyway, we'll show you later, in the training room."

Willow grew alert, leaning forward as Giles asked,

"Does Hadretz fight or does he only use magic to help out?"

Dawn looked to the returning Adanar to supply the answer. Having regained his usual composure the Ganaru explained,

"He isn't a strong fighter. He's good enough to defend himself until one of his bodyguards comes to his defence but he never _starts_ a physical encounter himself. His magical powers are quite limited and mainly useful for opening portals, teleporting himself and for confusing and slowing opponents or captives. He cannot control large numbers or maintain more than one spell at a time for more than twenty or thirty minutes. Giles would be his equal, which means that Willow is _far _more powerful. There are very few species with more than rudimentary magical abilities and humans seem to be evolving the required genetics at an unusually accelerated rate."

Both Willow and Giles seemed to be surprised by his observation and Angel sounded somewhat dubious as he queried it.

"We've all come across _more_ than a few species of powerful magicians, Adanar. Are you sure about the frequency? Older vamps such as me and Spike generally gain some ability and so do Slayers. I grant you that non-demonic human magic users seem to be on the rise, wouldn't you agree Spike?"

The blond vamp gave his Sire a suspicious look at the appeal for support, obviously wondering what Angel was up to and agreed cautiously.

"Yeah; it used to be a witch as powerful as Red would be well into middle age if not older. They do seem to be stronger, younger and there are definitely more of them around. But as for the species with abilities, are you talking about an evolutionary development as opposed to a learned skill?"

"Oh yes. Almost every species has rudimentary genes for using magic and some, like Hadretz, have studied and trained to use theirs. Humans are a species like my own; genetically predisposed towards magic use, only much stronger. Every Ganaru has _a _magical ability but generally of a type that is only suitable for mundane uses, like healing or for working with animals, predicting the weather or how to improve the soil and crops, even though we are so much older as a race. Truly powerful magicians affect reality on a far wider scale and in many ways. I, for example, cannot bring someone back to life, as Dawn told me Willow has done."

Giles was fascinated.

"So humans have the ability for magic at a basic _cellular_ level? That has always been a favourite subject for debate among Watchers. I'd love to continue this discussion but I fear we may be getting away from more immediate concerns, such as what to expect when fighting the Kridjatori. We really do need to concentrate on how and when we are going to deal with the slavers right now."

Dawn and Adanar described the Kridjatori as being skilful with mauls, clubs and maces; all bludgeoning weapons that suited their powerful, heavily muscled upper bodies. All of them were expert at using whips to subdue and control the movements of opponents and some they warned had learned the art of killing with the metal tipped, multi-thronged, long handled weapons. They gave the creature's weaknesses as being with maintaining control of their anger, underestimating the fighting abilities of humans and an arrogance that could lead to their increased speed due to the lesser gravity being a fatal flaw instead of an advantage.

Both agreed that they were far more afraid of the 'bear-cat' that was Strega's pet. Dawn warned,

"The damn thing's fast, vicious, poisonous and almost totally silent. If we can we should try to stay down wind of it; it'll smell us but we'll catch its stink at a greater distance! Adanar thinks that Strega has some sort of mind control over it. It _does_ seem awfully obedient for such a dumb beast."

Willow said,

"He's probably right. When I was reading up on Samarian paladins I noticed that they often used a form of telepathy to control their mounts, so an animal with limited intelligence would be easy to manage, even during a fight I imagine."

She was pleased to receive a smile of approval from Adanar, who agreed and suggested,

"I am certain that he does control it, which means that the creature _could _be the biggest threat of all. I think we should take it out first and from as far away as possible if we get the chance. Dawn?"

"Good idea. The critter's too dangerous when it acts in concert with Strega; _so_ like having a guy with a machinegun mounted on a cheetah coming at you! Given my druthers, I'm for taking care of Strega with half a dozen crossbow bolts too. Pity we don't have Xander's rocket launcher handy, it'd be perfect for that s.o.b! This is all well and good but we have to find their hang out first. I vote me, Buffy and Spike go out tomorrow night and he can sniff them out with his amazing vamp body odour trailing ability."

"Hey, no need to take that tone, Dawnie!"

"Don't knock it pet, not if you need me and my nose!"

"What _is_ it with vamps and that sniffing thing?"

Angel, Spike and Buffy spoke at once. Gunn grinned, Willow giggled and Adanar looked to Giles in bewilderment only to receive a long suffering sigh in return. Dawn laughed, stood, stretched, appeared to remember something, and asked,

"Who's up for a trip to the zoo tomorrow? Adanar secretly believes I've invented kangaroos and platypuses ... platypi? Whatever. So since he's been stuck here for the past few days I thought I'd show him the zoo and the botanic garden and he can spend the afternoon apologising abjectly. Buffy? Giles? Will? Any takers?"

The Ganaru nodded approvingly as Willow flushed with pleasure, raised her hand with as much trepidation as she had in her kindergarten year and answered with a happy squeak,

"I'm in! Thanks Dawnie. Ooh, we can go see the monkeys; all those cute furry faces. You'll love them Adanar."

Buffy and Giles accepted with pleased and grateful smiles. Dawn offered,

"We'll come by and collect you all at eleven, okay? Anyone for coffee?"


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13.

The visit to the zoo was a complete success. The grazing kangaroos fascinated Adanar and he was struck silent as they hopped about effortlessly, propped themselves on their muscular tails and joeys climbed in and out of their mothers pouches. After almost half an hour of kangaroo watching Dawn insisted they go to the platypus pond and his reaction provided them with a moment of pure joy. He stared at the odd looking little creatures in disbelief before suddenly doubling over with infectious laughter. Wiping the tears from his eyes and catching his breath finally, he shook his head, pointed to the animals backward facing webbed feet and the wide beak that appeared to be artificial and announced,

"_That_ cannot be real! Why, look at it; it's made from left over bits and pieces of other animals! Nothing that strange can possibly exist in any universe, dimension or world. It is just so … totally _absurd_. How could it survive in the wild? No, I just _cannot_ believe in it."

"Who said 'seeing is believing', huh? What's he going to say when we tell him that the koalas are always stoned off their faces from eating gum leaves?"  
Buffy asked Dawn as Willow and Giles tried to explain to Adanar that he would not be allowed to hold a platypus and examine it himself. They moved on to the koala enclosure and Adanar was shaking his head in disbelief at whatever Willow was telling him. Giles and Willow started laughing as the Ganaru launched into a lengthy speech.

Dawn smiled fondly at her friend as she watched the trio from the bench she and Buffy occupied, just out of earshot of the others.  
"They seem to be getting on alright. Adanar likes having someone he can talk magic with, I couldn't answer all his questions. Is Spike still all stand-offish and doing the '_so_-over-the-Slayer' routine?"

Buffy nodded,  
"I really hurt his feelings by not trusting him. He's got a right to be angry after being the only one not to lose confidence in me back in Sunnydale."

"Why, what happened?"  
Dawn knew from Giles' computer journal but only Spike and Adanar knew she'd hacked into Giles' computer. And she wanted to see how Buffy had felt about being pushed aside for Faith; a concept hard for her to fathom.

"Oh, I didn't listen to Giles and got some of the girls killed and Xander lost his eye because of it. They all decided that maybe Faith should take over; _she_ knew their names at least. Spike found me and said all the right things and turned me around. They had a point; I hadn't got to know the girls because I knew some of them were going to get killed. I shut them out, I shut everybody out. The way I always do. I couldn't blame them for preferring Faith, or for liking her as much as they did."  
Buffy admitted.

Dawn could feel how deeply the incident had shaken her sister up. She remembered how Buffy had closed herself off immediately after their mother's death and funeral until Dawn herself had thought, and accused her of being, cold and uncaring. Now she reached for Buffy's hand and gave it a squeeze, saying sympathetically,  
"_They_ weren't the ones with all the responsibility, were they? I bet Faith didn't handle it all that well?It sure looks a lot easier than it is. I found it terrifying just helping Adanar stay alive long enough for him to become a fighter; if he'd died I would have blamed myself. And I did that not wanting to get close in case he died stuff too. I'd _soo_ rather be a follower than a leader any day. _Way _easier on the nervous system."

Buffy smiled,  
"Thanks, Dawnie. I'm gonna enjoy you being a not-so-little sister. Nice having someone to make the 'there, there' sounds like mom did. Come on, it looks like Will wants to introduce Adanar to our next-of-kin. She was rapt you asked her to come with us."

As they joined the others Dawn lowered her voice,  
"Yeah well you know me, never one to hold a grudge. Except for my poor Malibu Barbie going missing! I know you only _said_ you lost it because mom told you it was a mean thing to do. Hey, you guys tell him that we share ninety eight percent of our genes with monkeys?"

The Ganaru studied the chimps before pointing to one in particular and telling Giles,  
"That young one who grabbed the food and is running away while making all the noise does bear enough of a resemblance to Dawn for me to see that humans and monkeys are of the one family. Why, the time she ran through …"

"You tell the cactus forest story and I'll toss you to the lions when we get to them! And don't think for a minute I'm joking!"  
Dawn threatened. Adanar merely smiled and gave the others a look that promised that there would come a day when they would hear the tale and why Dawn _didn't _want it told.

Hours later Buffy wrinkled her nose in disgust and muttered,  
"What a stink! We could have followed our _own_ noses and tracked them down. Not even the Komodo dragons smelled this bad!"

She and Spike were perched precariously twenty five feet above street level on the narrow parapet of a warehouse roof. Directly across from them was another warehouse, the lair of the slavers. Dawn was a shadow on that roof; vaguely seen as she moved from one skylight to a second, peering down into the building's interior. Spike hissed a warning and dropped into a crouch back behind the knee high brickwork. Buffy moved as fast as the vampire and they were lost in the shadows as a small door in the slavers hideout opened, spilling a rectangle of yellow light into the alley below. Three figures exited the building and the light disappeared with the closing of the door.

Spike watched as the group sauntered towards the street and asked,  
"Are we gonna follow them or wait for Bit? They don't look like they're carrying weapons."

Buffy chewed her lip as she watched them turn a corner.  
"If Dawn hurry's back we'll still be able to see where they're going. If they're out looking for captives, I'd like to know. Where _is_ she?"

"On her way back; that outfit isn't bad camouflage. _I'd_ have a hard time seeing her if I didn't know her whereabouts."

Buffy could see her sister now, beckoning for them to meet her down at ground level. As they crossed the roof to the fire escape they had climbed, she asked Spike abruptly,  
"Are you planning on giving me the cold shoulder forever? I'm sorry we didn't trust you guys and left you to fight on your own. But Angel .. "

"It's got nothing to do with the bloody poof, Buffy! He might deserve a sodding Academy Award for acting 'going evil' but I thought _you'd_ trust _me_. I thought I'd bloody well earned _that_ much at least! Even Dawn gave us the benefit of the doubt and she had every right to think I should be stomped to a paste before being dusted. For all she knew I was just an evil, soulless, blood sucking would be rapist. But _you_ .. Arhh, just forget it, okay? It's over and done with."

He dropped the last few feet to the pavement and stalked ahead, forcing Buffy to catch up to him at a jog. She grabbed his arm and he stopped, turning to glare at her icily.

She released her grip and lowered her voice,  
"You did earn my trust, more than earned it when you were the _only_ one in Sunnydale to have any confidence in me. I _am_ sorry Spike, I let you down badly, I know. Just .. I hope maybe one day you'll forgive me?"

She sighed as he shrugged, gave a non-committal grunt and turned to ask Dawn,  
"Get what you need? What about the buggers who just left then? Do we follow them or what?"

Dawn glanced from the angry blond vamp to her sister's suspiciously tear bright eyes. Dusting her hands on her muddy brown tunic of Badri leather she answered slowly,  
"They're out on the town, not on a hunt. Hadretz is back and Strega isn't happy about the waste of time apparently. He wants to start taking captives the night after next. It's gonna be a moonless night and they're planning a blitz type operation; just grab a half dozen demons, open a portal sometime before sunrise and split."

Spike muttered something incomprehensible and Buffy studiously avoided looking in his direction. Dawn frowned and demanded to know,  
"Are you two having one of your stupid spats? Why don't you just beat the crap out of each other or screw each other silly and get it out of your systems _before_ we have to deal with this lot? Because I didn't make it all the way back just to get killed because you guys don't have your minds on the job at hand, okay?"

"That's so not fair Dawnie, you know we _never _go into a fight without leaving our baggage behind!"

Buffy glared at her sister as Spike added his objections,  
"Yeah Dawn, we've survived because we _can_ put our differences aside when we have to. So _you_ just make sure whatever plan you come up with means we all get to walk away from this because I've tried thedisembodied ghost thing and on the whole it's a pain in the ass!"

Buffy caught Dawn's eye and they giggled while Spike glared at them both. Dawn asked her sister,  
"Don't you just _wish_ you'd been a fly on the wall when he turned up to haunt Angel?"

"And _nothing_ Angel could do to get rid of him!"  
The two young women laughed as the trio walked back to where they'd left Angel's car.

Slightly mollified the blond vamp told them gleefully,  
"I even got to follow him to his penthouse! Didn't _that_ make the poncy git lose it; you should have heard the bugger whine! It was the only fun part of the whole deal though; fading in and out and seeing the fires of hell getting closer wasn't too cheerful. Fred, bless her heart, tried … Yeah well, Fred was a friend. One of the best, poor love."

They fell silent until Spike had the car headed towards Dawn's place. Spike sounded diffident as he asked Buffy,  
"I was sorry to hear that Anya didn't make it. Must have been hard on the boy? He wouldn't want to hear it from me, but I was sorry for him and all. The demon was one of a kind."

Buffy nodded.  
"He doesn't leave Africa unless he has to; he really likes it there. When he's not on the trail of Slayers he puts his building smarts to good use. He just finished helping the locals build a school and medical clinic somewhere in Ethiopia. He doesn't know you're back yet Dawnie; sometimes it's hard to get in contact with him but he just might pay you a visit when he finds out."

By the time they pulled into the driveway, they had almost regained a somewhat friendly footing. Dawn followed them into the house, smiling to herself and hoping things would remain like this; until the slavers had been dealt with anyway.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14.

Giles mentally ticked off the items on his list before looking up and greeting Dawn with a wry smile,  
"I'm doing Xander's job of making sure you all have the correct weapons, in immaculate condition and nicely sharpened. I hadn't realised how exacting it could be. Xander made it seems so simple."

"Yeah, everyone underestimated just how _much_ Xander did as a Scooby. I think it hurt him sometimes. Buffy, Willow, Tara and Anya, even Oz, you all just got stronger and stronger and he got relegated to 'token' normal. It's hard you know, not being 'special', always the odd one out."

Giles glanced at the list in his hand and said thoughtfully,  
"Yes, I should imagine it must be that way on occasions. But with typical Xander loyalty, he never let us realise it. Spike was saying that your 'Ring' clothes have very effective camouflage properties?"

Dawn was wearing a long sleeved tunic, pants and boots in the muddy brown leather. She had strapped a wide leather belt around her waist, hooked through the band of her knife sheath and was buckling another crossways over her chest so that her sword was sheathed with the hilt behind her left shoulder. She slipped a short, thin bladed knife out of sight in her right boot.  
"It's not perfect but it helps me hide in the shadows. I'm glad you guys were able to find that reference about Strega's sword. I wasn't sure _what_ I'd seen. Damn thing would have been a nasty surprise."

Giles nodded. When the trio had returned to report everything they had learned from the slavers lair, Dawn had mentioned a sword Strega had unsheathed while she watched through the skylight.

Looking bemused she explained,  
"What got my attention was that he was being so _secretive_ about it, kinda examining it but making sure none of the others could see what he was doing. And it had this _odd _light to the blade. No, more like a _non_-light; like it was absorbing the light so hard it had a black-beyond-black aura. Oh, I don't know! Maybe .. something similar to a vamp not wearing his game face? Human but un-human? Anyway, if he's capable of worshiping anything other than pain, this sword is it; his God!"

Willow risked a small joke,  
"Uh, Dawnie? _I _do all the babbling in these situations, remember? Cause I'm so good at babbling and all. It's a knack I have and you know, magic aside, I don't have many interesting traits. Besides babbling, that is. "

Dawn grinned back and tried, but not too hard, to sound apologetic,  
"Oops, sorry Will. No thunder-stealing intended ok? I couldn't beat the Mistress of Babble in my wildest dreams and I freely admit it!"

"Oh goody, I don't have to turn you into a spotted frog or a .. a .. bottle blond like Spike!"

Dawn gave the bristling vamp a horrified glance and hastily assured the witch,  
"_Never_ shall I err again, oh great magical one! And other general grovel-y, boot-lick-y stuff."

Giles suppressed a grin and interrupted before said bottle blond vampire had a chance to display his displeasure in terms offensive enough to cause mayhem and disruption.  
"If you two have _quite_ finished with the 'Abbot and Costello' routine?"

Two blank faces stared at him and he sighed,  
"Never mind; Spike can educate you both later. The sword _does_ sound as if it could be magical and some of us need to hit the books and do a little old fashioned research. Angel? Adanar? Willow?"

Reluctant nods all around and a smirk from Spike,  
"Makes peroxiding the hair seem like a smart move to me! Hey Charlie, feel like a game of pool somewhere alcoholic and dusty-tome free? Niblet? Slayer? And _don't_ we make a most fetching foursome! Right then, let's take Peach's car and I'll drive. Bye nerds."

Dawn was brought back to the present by Giles reminding her,  
"_Any_ weapon with an ego poses a deathly serious threat Dawn. Please remember how _vital_ it is to keep as great a distance from it as is humanly possible."

"Shouldn't that be a _worse_ than deathly threat, Rupert? And don't us non- and un-humans share the same potentially deadly threat?"

Spike winced and hastily amended,  
"Strike the word 'potential' from that sentence! Just reminds me of all those weeks trapped in that Slayer St.Trinians' Hell-U Sorority House still makes me think about playing with pointy wooden sticks or rubbing them together to make fire!"

"I find I favour swan diving from London Bridge myself when the memories won't go away. If you survive the jump, the first swallow of River Thames would finish you off quite rapidly."  
Mused Giles; earning a grin from Spike and a 'whatever' shrug of the shoulders from Dawn.

The Watcher recollected himself and continued,  
"It would be a help to know the strength of the ego of course, but we must assume that _is_ incredibly powerful. It is the weapon of a Samarian paladin and therefore to be suspected of being the recipient of ancient experience and knowledge. Be very careful, all of you. Both individually and collectively you are probably the best warriors of light remaining in the world today and not _one _of you can be spared."

"Why Rupert, that's the _nicest_ thing you've ever said to me. I'm quite touched."  
Spike's banter barely disguised his surprise or his pleasure, but he tried.

Digging Dawn in the ribs with his elbow and speaking sotto-voiced he sadly informed her,  
"Better tell the Slayer our poor old Watcher 'ere 'as all the signs of senile dementia, pet. Bleedin' _sad_, isn't it? Hey, how'd you reckon my chances at securing his place on the Watcher Council then?"

"Well you _do_ have a wealth of experience on your side."  
Dawn told him thoughtfully before shaking her head regretfully,  
"But does being William the Bloody, part of the Scourge of Europe and Spike the Slayer of Vampire Slayers make for a topC.V? I think you might score a _little_ too high on the 'Most Wanted Dead' un- dead list to get the job."

"Oh. Too over-qualified, am I luv? Shame that."

From her seat out on the low wall dividing the patio from the neat garden Buffy watched them chatter together and tried not to feel left out. It was odd seeing Giles exchanging what appeared to be pleasant banter with Spike and seemingly having no trouble accepting Dawn's sudden reappearance as a mature adult. Her vamp-sense tingled and she glanced to her left and was unsurprised to find Angel coming towards her, moving slowly and cautiously without the use of the walking stick that had replaced the crutches he'd used earlier.

"Hey, look at you! Getting about under your own steam; must feel good?"

He returned her smile and settled next to her on the wall. He too frowned at the sight of Giles and Spike seemingly at ease together.  
"It's still going to feel wrong not being part of the action tonight. I thought Giles and Spike were still at the 'deadly enemy' stage? Didn't Giles try and set Spike up to be dusted?"

"Robin's mother was the Slayer Spike killed in New York; that duster of Spike's was hers. Giles kept me busy while Robin lured Spike into a trap and tried to kill him. It's weird seeing them like this, all friendly."

Angel heard a note of sadness in her voice and caught a hint of wistfulness in her green eyes as she watched the blond vampire and felt the sting of jealousy towards Spike.

Buffy cut into his thoughts as she said softly,  
"He wouldn't accept my apologies for not trusting him with the Wolfram and Hart thing. Not that I can blame him, but I am sorry. I _should_ have trusted him; and you."

Angel sighed and gave her a rueful smile,  
"I guess I'm a better actor than I thought; Spike, Gunn and the others were all fooled too. I was treated to an _intervention_. Don't worry about it on my account. I know how it looked; how it _had_ to look."

"An intervention huh? _I _got kicked out of my own home!"

"Ooh, ouch. Guess I didn't have it as rough as you."

They sat in companionable silence and waited for the expected phone call that would call some of them to battle.

Dawn glanced at the clock and frowned, Adanar and Gunn had volunteered to set a watch on the warehouse and to call them if and when the slavers made a move. Giles noticed her worried look and said softly,  
"It's not fully dark Dawn, so the slavers won't be out and about yet. I have every confidence in both Adanar and Gunn. They are too intelligent to take chances with their safety. I must see Willow and make sure she has everything she needs."

Spike waited until the Watcher was out of earshot before taking advantage of an opportunity to speak to Dawn.

"I've been meaning to catch you alone Bit, but haven't managed to do it till now. I know the timing's not the best but .. I _thought_ you and me were friends, but you don't seem to want to know me anymore. Is it because of what I tried to do to Buffy? Because I still feel lousy about it and always will, but it all got sorted and she .."

Dawn shook her head,  
"Well _duh_, I kinda figured that out. It's not like the two of you bothered to hide it from what I heard. Where _did_ you guys manage to find any privacy in a house full of baby Slayers; in the broom closet?"

Spike ignored her grin and persisted,  
"So why am I being treated like such a total stranger then? I'm sorry I let you down, promising I'd never let you get hurt again and taking off just when you needed .."

"Hey, _you_ didn't know Willow was gonna carry that whole Gothic-black-veiny-evil-witch thing too far, none of us did, so don't beat yourself up over coulda-shoulda okay? It was because .. man this is gonna sound _so_ lame but hey, I was only fourteen and lame went goes with the teenage angst routine."

She rolled her eyes and told him, with some embarrassment,  
"When Buffy came back it was like you didn't need to take care of me to keep you in with the Scoobies anymore and I felt like I was 'Dawn _who_?' And like everyone else, I didn't have a clue why; what with the two of you disappearing for hours and hours, sneaking around. Lame, I already said, but it hurt and not only did you break my heart, you even had the _bad taste_ to prefer my sister! I mean _puh-lease_, what were you thinking? I was so way better _everything_ than Buffy, you know!"

The blond vamp was staring at her, open-mouthed and shocked speechless so that she had to giggle before taking pity on him. Dawn patted his cheek softly and said in a kindly, almost maternal voice,  
"Don't take it to heart Spikey, I'm like _totally_ over it now. I didn't mean to ignore you; it's just been hectic with slavers, Buffy, Giles and the whole Willow issue. Once we get _this_ dealt with there'll be heaps of time to catch up. Although I'll have to go and spent a few weeks with Buffy of course; but I'll be back. Adanar and I have decided to stay on here and work for 'Angel Investigations'. But I haven't had a chance to tell Buffy yet, ok?"

Spike gathered his wits,  
"Never meant to ignore you Bit and I'd never use you like that on purpose. It was just … Things were so crazy; I was crazy but I _never_ meant to hurt you pet, not my Niblet. So .. _we're_ good? Friends?"

"Always were; always will be as far as I'm concerned. I'm sorry you felt I was punishing you. Like I said I was only fourteen but now I'm older I understand a lot more then I did back then."

They both turned towards Angel, whose cell phone trilled. It was Gunn and they both joined the others as they set about getting ready to set out for the warehouse and the slavers.

A/N; Just wanted to say thanks to everyone who's reviewed my story. Sorry if this chapter has been slow in coming but I've just learned what writers block is all about. The next chapter is already underway.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15.

A powerful punch to his midriff sent Spike sailing backwards into a wall. Finding himself next to Buffy, struggling back to her feet after a similar blow, he observed,  
"Bloody hell luv, these buggers are _tough_!"

Not taking her eyes off the Kridjatori bearing down on her, the tiny Slayer spat out a mouthful of blood and took the time to agree with him before launching herself into a high kick aimed at the demons chest,  
"They do seem to take some killing, don't they?"

Her flying kick sent the Kridjatori back pedalling and she used her momentum to bring her sword slashing down on to his skull in a death blow. Spinning around to select her next opponent Buffy found herself with a few seconds to take in the battle. Of the eight Kridjatori they had ambushed in the alley, three were dead and two barely alive. Dawn and Adanar were fighting back to back and definitely wearing another two down, despite Dawn's scarred cheek bleeding freely and the Ganaru favouring his left leg.

With her sister holding her own, Buffy turned her focus onto the remaining slaver now roaring and moving clumsily in her direction, his heavy club already swinging towards her. The Slayer ducked under his arm and he stumbled into Spike's orbit. The vamp met the huge demon with a roundhouse punch to the jaw that sent him staggering backwards and into the reach of Buffy's sword.

Willow stood and faced the warlock Hadretz, locked into magical battle. The warlock was draining his power by throwing attacks at the little witch with increasing desperation. A stream of energy balls leapt from his fingertips, only to be halted mid-way and sent back towards him. Willow giggled as Gunn began to whistle 'Return to Sender' and even Giles gave a brief laugh. Both men were armed with crossbows and were partly shielded from the warlock's attacks by the heavy dumpster they stood behind. Needing the crossbow bolts for use against the 'bearcat', only Gunn had fired his to bring down a Kridjatori who had run at Willow during her first attack.

As Hadretz weakened he became reckless and staked all of his remaining power on the throw of a large binding spell at the trio. Gunn and Giles flinched momentarily but Willow allowed it to spark and sizzle uselessly against her force screen. As the warlock sank to his knees, dizzy and spent, Willow bound him in a field of energy that hung him off the ground and kept him neutralised. Giles winced as he recognised it as being the same restraining spell he had been forced to use to prevent a remorseful Willow from harming herself after realising that Dawn had gone through the portal with Warren.

Buffy pulled her sword from the demons back, wiped the blade clean on its shirt and moved closer to where Dawn and Adanar were beating their opponents into submission by using the Kridjatori's own strength and speed against them. Badly wounded, the two demons were seriously misjudging their moves in a lesser-gravity induced unco-ordination. Dawn was muttering what could only be swear words in a foreign tongue and following one fluent stream Adanar laughed and called to her,  
"Now _that_ is a physical impossibility Dawn!"

Dawn parried a blow and asked her opponent plaintively,  
"Don't you just _hate_ it when somebody gets all picky like that? He does it all the time, you know. Next he'll be telling me off for not introducing myself before I disembowel you."

The Kridjatori came at her again, snarling out a few words that appeared to offend her and Dawn sidestepped neatly and spun on the ball of one foot and launched a savage kick to the side of his knee with the other and sending her sword blade deep into his spinal cord, saying indignantly,  
"My grandmother would _never_ have it off with a Keledra maggot or any creepy, disgusting thing like that! If _yours_ did then it would explain why you're such a slimy little twerp!"

Adanar's opponent fell a split second after Dawn's last one hit the ground. The Ganaru wiped his sword clean and told Dawn,  
"I see what you meant when you said the one you killed the other day reacted strangely to your name, this one almost froze when I called to you. Odd, but perhaps we may be able to use it to disconcert the three who have remained with Strega."

"I saw that too. You must've made yourself one hell of a reputation on Kridjator, Bit."  
Spike busied himself with ripping off the least blood stained garments from the dead slavers; it would help keep the 'bearcat' quiet as they approached if they smelt familiar. He handed strips to everyone but Dawn and Adanar who wore their 'Ring' clothes.

"That's just it. I _wasn't_ allowed to use my name, ever. I guess it's to do with this demi-goddess or whatever. Could be some prophesy or maybe she's just another hell-bitch like Glory."  
Dawn shook her head, puzzled, before turning to Adanar and suggesting quietly,  
"Why don't you take Gunn and Willow on ahead and we'll catch up in a few minutes, my friend?"

Willow glanced at Gunn, who asked in confusion,  
"Isn't it safer for us to stay together? Splitting up doesn't sound like a good idea guys."

Giles realised what Dawn was about; the captive warlock and the two dying Kridjatori had to be dealt with and she wanted to spare the Ganaru the sight of them being killed after the fighting had ended. The Watcher nodded at her and received a grateful look in return as he whispered to Gunn and Willow. Adanar did not miss the exchange and gave the slavers and the warlock a sorrowful, pitying glance before turning to walk away.

"You really care about him, don't you?"  
Buffy stated rather than asked. Spike watched Dawn carefully as she pressed her sleeve against her bleeding cheek. The younger girl answered softly,  
"He's my pair-brother; that's as strong as any blood kinship. But he's really more like a foster-father, like you with Giles. Killing in battle he's learned _not_ to feel guilty about, but this? It just rips another piece of his soul apart. Me, I have no scruples at all about this lot; they don't have any right to expect mercy. Do you Hadretz?"

The defeated and drained warlock hung in his magical bonds and spat at her feet in answer. Dawn ignored it and asked curiously,  
"So do you know _why_ this lot go so weird and freaky when they hear my name? You do, don't you? Tell you what, you tell me and I'll kill you so fast it'll be virtually painless. Try and pretend you're brave and I'll kill you by _inches_."

Both girl and warlock glanced towards the wounded Kridjatori at the sound of a bubbling, gurgling death rattle. Spike withdrew his sword from one of the creature's chest and moved towards the other one. Noticing their looks he gave the warlock a cheerful grin, waved the bloody sword and said,  
"Don't mind me mate, just answer the lady real nice and polite. Otherwise I'll have to show you my nasty tempered side."

Buffy joined Dawn and stared at the warlock. Hadretz grew pale as he watched Spike cut the remaining Kridjatori's throat. Dawn sighed impatiently and drew her black bladed long knife from its sheath and settled the point against the Tarethian's jugular vein. The sight of the knife seemed to panic him and his eyes widened comically.

Dawn frowned and pressed the point into his skin hard enough to release one drop of blood.  
"So talk already. Sheesh, you never _shut up_ whenever you came to the Ring to watch us practise, so spill your guts before I get bored and do it for you!"

Buffy groaned and told her sister,  
"That's the _worst_ pun I've ever heard!"

"I wasn't being at all figurative Buffy. It's a way so literal threat; he talks or I disembowel! Hey Hadretz, I hear you've been bouncing all over the countryside looking for the Slayer? Tell me about the Dohrn thingee and I'll introduce you to the Chosen one."

"Resorting to bribery Bit? Thought you had a tad more imagination than that; want me to teach you a few effective torture methods? Round out your education, like."

Spike strode over to stand beside the Slayer and gave the hanging warlock a cool appraisal that ended with a dismissive grimace.

The warlock was not so intimidated that he missed noticing something strange about the blond vamp. He took another, more searching look at Buffy and his eyes widened. He spat again and grudgingly asked Dawn,  
"_She_ is a Slayer, isn't she? And the half-breed has a soul. These are things not seen by me on my visits to this world."

"She is _the_ Slayer actually. 'One in every generation; blah, blah, blah. And she alone; blah, blah, blah' and all that stuff."  
Dawn had no intention of telling him the whole truth,  
"Her name's Buffy and she's my big sister. She's not all _that_ impressed by the hospitality I was offered on Kridjator, by the way. As for Spike, yeah good old William the Bloody, Scourge of Europe etcetera, went and got him self lumbered with a soul. Not that it's turned him into some New Age pacifist or anything remotely mushy, hey Spike?"

"I just try not to kill innocent bystanders these days, is all. And _I_ don't like the way Dawn was treated either. So if I was you, scum bucket, I'd just tell her all you know about this demi-goddess and be quick about it; killing times a wasting."  
Spike morphed out to emphasise his impatience.

Hadretz turned his attention back to Dawn.  
"I die quick and clean if I tell you what little I know?"

"Agreed, you'll get a fast strike to the heart. Now talk."

"Even before you escaped slaves murmured your name enough for it to be known to the Kridjatori. That is why you always drew the biggest crowds to the Death Ring; a fascination with fear. When you disappeared during that sand storm and because it was not the season for storms it was said that you had caused it. Then the great quaking came and you were seen to walk into the Temple of Dohrn and take the sacrificial knife from the altar and walked away _untouched._"

Buffy gave Dawn a questioning glance and the girl shrugged, looking surprised and nodded. Spike gave the knife in her hand a thoughtful study.

Hadretz kept on talking.  
"Then you were only ever seen when you came out of the desert to kill with it and it was said that you _were _Dohrn and had turned on the Kridjatori for having failed to give you the blood sacrifices you thought were your due. A goat-herder saw you and the Ganaru open a portal and leave but those superstitious fools of Kridjatori were terrified at the thought that the Goddess had abandoned them. Now keep your word and kill me cleanly."

Dawn drove the black bladed sacrificial knife through his heart with one quick thrust. As she wiped it clean of blood on his shirt, she said,  
"I didn't know I was even in a Temple to Dohrn. I just needed a weapon and when the quake happened we were near that village, so we went to see what provisions and stuff we could find. If she can scare the Kridjatori she must be one hell of a bitch-queen alright! Let's just go and finish this whole thing; I'm getting hungry again. And if you found these guys a bit tough, the three waiting with Strega are better fighters and he's terrifying."


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16.

Dawn's use of the word 'terrifying' for Strega proved to be no overstatement, as both Buffy and Spike learned to their shock. The Samarian may have been just as taken by surprise as were the three remaining Kridjatori but he rallied with a speed that was truly remarkable. The four fighters launched themselves through the large skylights amid a hail of glass, crouching low on landing and moving swiftly sidewards so that Giles and Gunn were able to follow with a volley of crossbow bolts aimed at the 'bearcat' Dawn and Adanar had insisted was a greater danger than the oversized and well trained Kridjatori fighters.

The creature had been chained against the return of the slave taking party and although fatally wounded by the bolts it would not die immediately. It screamed and threw itself against its massive bonds until the thick steel reinforced cement pillar it was chained to creaked and bowed alarmingly. Strega was in no position to release it as he found himself facing Buffy and Spike, positioned between his pet and himself and whom he quickly realised posed the greatest threat to his own life he had faced in almost a decade.

Buffy and Spike found themselves barely within sword range of the ex-paladin before having to parry lightening fast flicks from the whip that appeared in his left hand. Moving together, Slayer and vampire edged him further away from his beast and began to slowly circle him, studying his moves and seeking a weakness. They did not have to spare a glance at each other to know that if there was a weakness in their opponent's skills it had to be as minute and brief as Dawn and Adanar had surmised. Raising an eyebrow and sounding somewhat bored Strega asked,  
"What is this; the vampire has a soul andthe human partners a demon? How very unusual, especially as I see you have fought beside each other many times."

"Our best fights have been with each other; wouldn't you agree pet?"  
Spike found his flurry of blows easily parried and he was forced to back off. Buffy managed to draw first blood on the Samarian; a small gash to a leather clad arm. Strega cursed and sent her reeling from a well placed kick to her midriff. As he followed, Spike drove his booted foot into his thigh and almost bringing him to his knees.

The blond Slayer felt her ribs gingerly before informing the Samarian,  
"Not bad but Spike has a much harder punch when he's not getting his own way. It's best to try and steer clear of those boots of his too. Oh wait; that's mainly when he insists on dancing with you. Two left feet, you see."

Dawn and Adanar had an advantage over the slower responding Kridjatori and were able to land the first blows and draw the first blood. Adanar landed a telling strike on the first Kridjatori he first faced, cleaving a deep wound to the back of the demon's thigh, severing a large muscle and hobbling it so that they were able to fight the other two one on one. Dawn drew blood on her opponent as she dodged and danced nimbly in and out of the demon's reach. The Kridjatori roared and raged in pain and frustration as he swung wildly. To Giles, Gunn and Willow watching through the skylights above the girl was moving with all the swift power as he Slayer sister, while the Ganaru moved little, standing as solid as a mountain and swatted the sword coming at him away as if it were a particularly irritating fly.

They didn't have the fight going their way for too many minutes as the Kridjatori recovered from their shock and began fighting back with strength, speed and cunning. A well parried sword blow sent Dawn staggering backwards dangerously close to the snarling bearcat, so that she was forced to twist in mid air and roll out of reach in an ungraceful scramble. She came to her feet and launched herself back towards her foe swearing loudly in Kridjatori and startling him into taking a closer look at her. He parried a blow but she struck back with speed to open a gash on his upper sword arm.  
"You know our tongue?"

"Well now, it doesn't exactly stretch the brain to learn to grunt like an animal, does it?"  
She slowly edged him in an arc and delivered a flurry of strikes that he parried without realising she was forcing back towards the bearcat.

"You wear Badri leather and he is .. It _can't be_!"  
He lowered his sword as he realised who he faced and Dawn stepped in neatly and dealt a killing slash to his stomach. The demon stared down at his bulging entrails before sinking to his knees and staring up at Dawn in disbelief.

Keeping her sword poised and ready for another strike if needed, she smiled at him mirthlessly and stated,  
"Yeah, it most definitely _can_ be. I won twenty eight fights in the Death Ring fighting solo and another thirty with my pair-brother. _They_ called me Kana but my name is Dawn. See my pretty knife? Oh, you're no fun; dead already."

She kicked the still kneeling body in the chest and the bearcat snagged it, tugging it closer. Dawn watched and muttered,  
"Only enough brains to kill and eat. Don't even realise you'll be dead before you get that down your throat. Ooohf!"

A huge hand snagged her ankle and she paid for her lapse in concentration with a heavy fall that drove the breath from her as the pain of torn muscles burned outwards from her right shoulder. She dodged a sword strike by more chance than skill as she rolled away. The injured Kridjatori had managed to crawl back to the wall and was hauling himself to his feet, a rough bandage stemming the bleeding from his thigh.

She bit her lip against the pain of her shoulder and told him angrily but honestly,  
"I _so_ deserve that! Damn it, I think you could have dislocated my shoulder! That makes it pay back time, big ugly!"

Adanar spared her a frowning glance as he was forced to back pedal from a flurry of blows, his shirt clinging wet with blood from a shallow gash to his chest. Nodding as she turned to face her new opponent, the Ganaru felt his limbs growing heavy with exhaustion and he thanked his Gods that the creature he faced appeared to be in a worse state than himself. He would have liked to see how Buffy and Spike were doing against Strega but wouldn't allow himself to be distracted as had Dawn. The tired Ganaru moved back into the fight.

The three bystanders were restless. Used to being part of the fight, they were finding it hard to stand back watching developments. Gunn thought out loud as he watched the bearcat feeding on the dead demon,  
"Five bolts in its hide and the damn thing is stopping for _a snack_? I should go down and find the one's that missed it and finish the job!"

Giles shook his head,  
"They need all the space they have down there. It'd be hard to get a clear shot with the way they are being tossed about. Dawn and Adanar are fighting like Slayers but I'm beginning to think it's going to take all four of them to beat Strega. Willow, can you see that black sword of his?"

Willow winced as Spike had his leg tugged from under him by Strega's whip. The slaver loosened the lash with a flick of his wrist and it fell free while blood oozed from the circular cut on the blond vamps leg. She answered Giles,puzzled,  
"He has it strapped to his back like Dawn wears hers. Why doesn't he use it? There's a lot of power there; more than an ego sword should have. It's _very_ powerful, Giles!"

"How much power do you have left, Willow? We made need a spell or two unless they kill this fellow soon."  
Giles sounded worried.

"Adanar gave me these yesterday, thank the Goddess! I charged one with power and he charged the other with his healing magic."  
She showed him a simple chain with two of the precious Berdea crystals that she had worn tucked away under her top. Giles was relieved and Gunn whistled as the crystals glowed as the little witch touched them with a gentle finger.

Adanar's opponent died with a scream fading into a bloody death rattle as the Ganaru's sword pierced his heart and was withdrawn. A hasty glance to where Dawn was battling a fading Kridjatori allowed him to take a few well deserved, deep breaths as he cleaned his sword on the dead demon's shirt automatically. He turned towards the more serious battle as Spike dropped to the floor, stunned and weak from a series of whip slashes. Buffy hastily wiped her eyes clear of blood that fell freely from a gash to her forehead and dodged a swift sword stroke.

Strega showed signs of tiring also; he stumbled a little and his shoulders dropped into a slouch as he backed away briefly in order to catch his breath. He glanced towards his pet and his rage grew as he saw that it would not last much longer. As he and Buffy swayed and feinted, the slaver growled to see the last Kridjatori go down from a slashing downwards stab Dawn delivered with her black-bladed knife. _That damn slave girl and her Ganaru pa_ir! How was it that they were alive and _here_?

He dodged and parried a blow from the tiny blond woman; a mere girl really. Hadretz and the others must be dead or else they would have been back by now. At least, Hadretz was to have returned after indicating the slaves to be taken. Strega sensed the others on the roof and felt a twinge of concern at being able to feel the magic power of one who waited there. No matter; his focus must be this human female who fought as well as he himself. One of the Slayers that fool Hadretz had fantasised about? Time enough to discover the truth after he killed her, he thought, as he stepped up to deliver a flurry of blows intended to send her into the paws of his dying bearcat.

Buffy was forced back slowly as she parried and dodged, aware of what he was attempting to do and fought just as hard to keep clear of the beast. She moaned as his whip snaked painfully around her sword arm and the blade fell from her hand. Having trapped her, Strega began reeling her in with a cruel smile. She tried to dig in her heels and unwind the leather cutting deeply into her arm, watching warily as he dropped the sword he held, reached over his shoulder and unsheathed the blade Dawn had told them about; the ego sword. The black blade throbbed and seemed to send out a shadow that widened and deepened as the Samarian held it towards her. The menace from the thing was palpable and drove her to more frantic efforts to free herself.

Adanar gasped, looked for Willow and called to her in a voice hoarse with shock and fear,  
"Willow! The blade; the blade is a _soul-stealer_! You must … "

His voice stopped as Strega muttered a word or two and pointed the sword in his direction. As her friend hit the floor twitching violently before becoming ominously still, Dawn made her move. Having slowly manoeuvred to gain his blind side, she silently launched herself into a low dive towards his knees. Yelling with pain as her injured shoulder connected with his hard leather boots, she heaved herself to her knees, sending him sprawling and causing him to lose his grip on both the whip and his sword. Spike roused himself enough to crawl to Buffy and drag her back from the reach of the bearcat as she fought to free her arm of the whip's leather thong.

Strega and Dawn found themselves laying stretched full length, belly down and with barely a foot and a half distance between their faces. Both had lost their weapons and reached for the one that was closest; the soul-stealer ego blade laying not more than two feet from their outstretched arms. Dawn felt as if she was swimming in molasses and terror. The baneful power from the blade made her skin crawl and her mind scream with revulsion. She levered herself higher on her damaged arm and forced her hand closer to the hilt.

"_What_? No! _Noooo_!"  
Strega screamed in disbelief as the sword, _his sword_, evaded his fingertips even as they touched the hilt, slid towards his opponent and into her hand. Dawn sucked in air as the hilt seemed to mould itself into her grip and a new strength pulsed through her tired body. She pulled herself to her knees and looked from the sword in her hand to the cowering Strega, her face twisted into a mask of disgusted horror. The Samarian backed away on hands and knees, his eyes never leaving the sword that had come to him whenever he had called it, only to desert him now for _this slave, this human_, and he knew his soul was lost.

"_What have you done_? This was a weapon made to do _good_, to protect the weak and you have forced it to do evil. You have made it do foul things; things that have sent it half mad and sick with horror. It and every soul you trapped in it."  
Dawn's face reflected a great struggle but only he and she knew that the voices of those he had trapped in the sword with its original ego echoed through her head. Ignoring the agony every movement caused her shoulder she let the hilt of the sword slip back in her hand so the blade rested along her outstretched arm.

"Free yourselves! _Take him_!"  
Screaming in rage and hate, she gave her wrist a swift twist and the blade slashed forward, leaping from her hand to fly point first into and through the Samarian's throat, pinning him to the wall. He spewed blood and should have died instantly, but the blade shattered and many shadows leapt from it and they all watched as the whispering, cursing shadows tore and ripped at Strega's soul even as it left his dying body. Somehow he managed a final, tortured scream that caused them all to turn their faces away, while out over the docklands demons and humans alike shuddered and felt the chill of terror against their minds.


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17.

Buffy kept her arm around her sister's shoulders as Dawn knelt beside the unconscious Adanar. Willow knelt on the other side of the Ganaru and tried desperately to tap into the healing stored in the Berdea crystal to help him awaken. Shaking, her voice hoarse with fear,

Dawn wanted to know,  
"_Why _doesn't he wake up? He's not going to die, is he? He can't; not now. Can't you do _something _to help himWillow?"

Willow looked up from Adanar and promised her,  
"I'm _not_ going to let him die Dawnie. I just need to .. "

The little witch reached deep within herself for her power and felt it respond. Dawn was startled to see Willow's red hair and green eyes turn white and glow as she laid the healing crystal over the Ganaru's heart and place her hand over it. Golden energy seeped from under the witch's hand and spread to cover Adanar's entire body. The gold power flared and faded as Adanar groaned and his eyes flickered open.

Dawn released a sobbing breath before leaning over her friend with a wavering smile,  
"Hey. No fair scaring me like that, my friend. It was way mean! How do you feel?"

"Did the Kridjatori use me as some sort of ball in a kicking contest? From the way I feel, someone must have spent quite some time jumping up and down on top of me. There's no need to cry, I'm _fine_ Dawn. Was that your magic Willow? Surely you're not going to do me out of a job by becoming a more powerful healer, are you?"

Willow gave him a tired smile,  
"It was your crystal and your magic. I don't think healing is my thing somehow."

Dawn reached out to take Willow's hand, squeeze it and told her gratefully,  
"Thank you, Will. I owe you big time."

Willow smiled and shook her head,  
"Just take it off what I _owe _you, huh?"

"Quits then? By the way, the platinum blond look is _way _more attractive than the Goth dark thing you had going; when you're not a natural brunette black makes the face look so _hard_ somehow."

"Quits is good; _better_ than good. And you're right about the brunette thing, not me at all. Never gonna try that again."

Buffy and Giles were relieved to see _that_ particular hatchet was now well and truly buried. Dawn helped Adanar to sit up and he gazed around the warehouse until he spotted Strega's body slumped against the wall.

Taking in the look of terror frozen on the Samarian's face, he shuddered and asked,  
"What of his soul-stealer? Is it destroyed?"

Giles spoke up from where he and Spike stood watching the small group.

"The blade is broken but Dawn still has the pieces. The sword _chose_ her and she used it to kill him. A _nastier_ death than any I've ever heard of, let alone seen, no matter how well deserved."

"Yeah, man. They tore his soul apart! The souls that were freed when the blade broke just _ripped it to pieces_ while it was still leaving his body."  
Gunn shuddered at the memory. He had grabbed a couple of crossbow bolts and ended the bearcat's suffering before beginning to gather all of the weapons he could find.

Spike suggested tiredly,  
"Let's get out of here, huh? Peaches' better have the first aid kit ready, it's gonna do overtime tonight. Not to mention the 'medicinal' Jack Daniels. Besides, that beast stinks just as much dead, if not worse! You feel up to moving yet, Big Guy?"

Adanar nodded and got to his feet slowly with Dawn and Willow supporting him.

"I'll be fine, thanks to Willow. How are the three of you? Do you hurt as much as you look you should?"

Dawn, Buffy and Spike were covered in cuts, scrapes and bruises and all three were moving gingerly and painfully.

Dawn told him,  
"My shoulder got the worst of it again. I thought it was dislocated but I'm thinking it's just torn ligaments and muscles. And before you say 'I told you so'? I know, I know, I got myself hurt 'cause I didn't watch what I was doing."

Her sister held her arms around her own painfully tender midriff,  
"I think I've cracked a rib or two and popped some cartilage. Your cheek's still bleeding, Dawnie."

"I guess _that'll_ please you, my friend? Your fingers have been itching for years to remove my scars."

She and Adanar shared a smile, a reminder of past arguments between them.

"You do not need them anymore Dawn. They have served their purpose. And _you _Spike? What damage have you sustained?"

"Cuts from that bloody whip mainly. That bugger hurt like hell! Here gimme some of those Charlie, be an idea to let the Poof know we're all present and accounted for. What _are _we gonna do with that soul stealing gizmo Rupert? Might be a tad risky to have hanging around, don't you think?

Spike grabbed half of Gunn's load of weapons and his friend pulled out his cell phone to call Angel. Giles and Willow hovered beside Adanar while Dawn and Buffy supported each other, but mainly for the comfort of being close together.

Giles frowned at Spike's question, finally asking,  
"Dawn? Perhaps I _should _take the pieces of that sword?"

"Huh? Oh, the sword. Um, its gone quiet now, I think it's really tired. It only stole souls because Strega had a Berdea crystal magic-ked and set in the hilt; the sword shattered that so that it could leave him during the fight."

She gave him a pleading glance,  
"I'm not sure destroying it would be the _right_ thing to do. Can't we wait till I've had a little more time with it before we make any decisions? It fought him an awfully long time you see, and it's only fair to give it a chance to defend itself or something."

Giles saw her determination and decided to give the sword the time she asked for; Dawn had the moral strength to keep the sword under control. He nodded his consent and she gave him a grateful smile.

She turned to Willow and reminding her of a recent conversation, said,  
"Hey Will? I've been chatting telepathically with a _sword_! How normal is _that_?"

Willow laughed and agreed,  
"Okay, you've made your point; weird _is_ our normal! Spike? You are _so_ gonna share the booze when we get back!"

"I'm too bloody tired to fight you, Red. But we might have to drop by a liquor store on the way, I'm pretty sure Bit's run out of bourbon. She's a shockin' hostess; never a drop in the house to offer guests."  
Spike gave Dawn a weary grin over his shoulder. She was too sore and tired to do more than mutter a few obscenities at him.

Adanar shook his head and told her,  
"Like I said earlier Dawn; that is just _not _physically possible! Although if Spike would care to try it and should he somehow find a willing partner, I'd be _quite _interested in observing; in a purely scientific manner of course."

Spike gave him a wary glance,  
"I think your mate might have perverted tendencies, Niblet. But let's not tell Peaches, hey? Might be some _interestin'_ developments come of it."


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18.

Buffy and Dawn sat sipping coffee in the late afternoon sun. The various cuts, scrapes and bruises each had walked away from the previous nights' fight with were barely visible; thanks to Buffy's Slayer healing and Adanar's touch. Dawn had only faded bruising and three barely noticeable white lines where the scars had marred her cheek but, at Adanar's insistence her still painful arm cradled in a sling. Dawn dreaded raising the subject she needed to discuss with Buffy; she loved her sister and had missed her terribly but had decided that her path lay here in L.A. and with 'Angel Investigations'. Now she had to break the news to Buffy and hope for understanding, if not acceptance.

Taking a deep breath she began,  
"Uh, Buffy, there's something we need to talk about. It's just that me and Adanar have been talking about the future and, well, we think we'd be a lot more use _here _than in Italy or England or wherever. But only because _you've_ got the Slayers and the Watchers and Willow and Xander to help you while 'Angel Investigations' needs to regroup. You won't be all hurt or anything if I spend a couple of months with you and then come back, will you?"

She searched her sister's face anxiously for disappointment or pain. Buffy's smile faded as she digested Dawn's words. It didn't exactly come as a surprise; Dawn and Adanar both seemed to be so settled here and at ease with Angel, Spike and Gunn. Her sister was an adult and, as hard as it was for her to accept, the young woman who had fought beside her the night before wasn't in need of protection from the violence of the world. If anything, Dawn had probably fought as often as she herself had, and survived the worst that evil had thrown her way.

Buffy sighed before telling her, wanting to reassure her,  
"I half expected you'd want to stay here. It's okay Dawnie. Really. Sure, I'd _love_ us to live together but you're all grown up now. A lot faster than I would have liked, but .. I'm just happy you're _here,_ you know? Where I can come see you or you can come visit me and not away in some other dimension where I can't reach you at all! And they _do_ need you here, they've lost too many people and they're hurting."

Feeling relieved Dawn promised,  
"We can talk almost every day over the Net. Heck, we can rig up video cams and it'll be even better than phoning or emails! And we can visit lots; we're loaded now, remember?"

Dawn still felt the need to explain,  
"Besides; I don't think I could be as effective if I had to follow the rules Slayers fight by. I mean, you guys don't have the leeway 'A. I.' can afford, do you? I'm not talking doing anything even the remotest bit evil, but more like taking on cases that aren't in the scope of what  
you do. Does that make sense?"

Buffy nodded, smiling slightly,  
"Yeah. It's kind of like me cutting loose from the Watcher's Council and their ways of doing things. Sometimes there has to be room for flexibility; for making the 'on the ground' decisions. Like working with, and for, demons that aren't necessarily evil. And it won't be so hard for Adanar to live in L.A., will it? There are humans out there who look weirder than he does and never get a second look. But you _are_ going to Rome with me for a little while?"

Dawn laughed,  
"You bet! I have to meet this immortal boyfriend of yours and make sure he's good enough for my sister! And I've just _got_ to know why the vamps are so bent out of shape over him. Thanks, Buff; for understanding. It's weird; all I wanted to do was come home and be with you and now I'm going to be half a world away."

"At least it's the _same_ world though. And it's not that big really. We should get moving soon, if we're going to meet the others back at your place. Giles is anxious to discuss what to do with that ego sword. But we've got time for another coffee first. But first; Dawn, I've been wondering. Are you going to be _okay_? When it comes to guys? After everything you've been through, I wondered. You're bound to meet someone one day and .. you know."

Dawn sat in silence for a moment before answering carefully,  
"Yeah, I think so, eventually. Just .. maybe .. not for a while, you know? And, given my particular genetic inheritance, I can't promise they'll be, like, _totally_ human! _Can_ fancying hot vamps be a heredity issue? Like .. _Oww_! Cut that out! What'd I say?"

She sat rubbing her ear and grinning at a stern faced Buffy. The blond couldn't keep the mock disapproving expression up and broke down to share a giggle with her sister as they gathered their things together and stood to leave.

They were the last to arrive. Dawn dumped her backpack on the couch and greeted everyone breezily,  
"Buffy's fault we're late. Shethought she saw Johnny Depp and chased this poor guy for miles! It's almost impossible to take her out anywhere remotely public without ending up in some embarrassing scene. Pull my ear again Buffy and I'll tug so much hair out you're gonna be totally _bald_!"

Giles sighed, removed his glasses and pinched the bridge of his nose.

Dawn sounded very concerned as she asked sweetly,  
"Are you _still_ getting those headaches Giles? You should go for allergy tests; maybe there's something in the air that sets them off?"

Spike chortled,  
"Only thing poor old Rupes is allergic to is being neck deep in smart mouthed females! All those Slayers, witches and now Niblet's back; I reckon 'e should be up for the Shanshu deal too. Don't know 'ow 'e does it really."

Giles finished polishing his glasses, returned them to his face and tried to head off a bout of witticisms by saying sternly,  
"I _thought_ we were here to discuss the sword! May we see it, please Dawn?"

Dawn fetched it from her room and set it down on the dining room table. The blade had snapped off two thirds of its length, distorting one of the runes etched into the grey metal. The shattered Berdea crystal set into the pommel was loose enough for Dawn to prise out of its mounting with her fingernails. Although it no longer glowed darkly, they could still sense a sentient being was attached to it. Giles studied it before giving Dawn a nod to begin with what the blade had communicated to her.

"Okay. The sword was forged almost fifteen hundred years ago for the Samarians. 'The Order of Paladins of Asten', to be precise. The being whose ego inhabits it now was its first owner, whose name translates as 'The One Who Protects the Innocent Towards Morning' or Cernagaleda for short. Anyway, Strega wasn't able to dominate it until he tricked it into believing that he was going to have a Berdea crystal storing healing magic set into it and the magician who cast the 'soul taker' spell was _far _too strong for the sword to fend off."

Dawn stopped briefly to gaze at the sword sadly.  
"Poor thing; a spell _that_ evil left it tortured until it broke itself. It _tried_ to regain control for decades but Strega became more and more evil and grew much stronger and kept it down. But it resisted every time he used it and for the past twenty years he barely used it because he couldn't trust it _not _to find a way to destroy him. Last night he wasn't on top of his game and it finally got the chance to escape him. Now it just wants to redeem itself."

Gunn asked, confused,  
"So now we've got a _sword_ with a _soul_? Man, the world just gets weirder and then some! If it's got a soul does that mean we _can't_ destroy it?"

Willow looked at Giles and said quietly,  
"We _shouldn't_ destroy it. It was never meant to be evil and didn't become evil in its self. It's not up to us to decide it should or shouldn't have a chance to redeem itself."

Giles glanced about the table and saw that Adanar, Angel, Spike and Dawn agreed with Willow. Buffy looked a little concerned, but her concern was for Dawn rather than the sword.

"Dawnie, the sword chose _you _last night; if it is reforged and you use it how do you know it won't dominate you?"

"It _can't_ because it isn't really strong enough."

Dawn sounded convinced butexplained her reasons when she saw the doubt on Giles and Buffy's faces.  
"_The sword_ killed Strega and released those trapped souls, not me. Without the enchanted crystal it is just not _that_ powerful. At least, not powerful enough to endanger me or anyone with a strong will. All it would do is what it was meant to do; warn its user of approaching danger, anticipate a user's move during a fight and provide a little extra speed, strength and endurance. Not much, say a ten percent difference. The healing crystal in the hilt wouldn't be a bad idea though, especially with all the fighting we do."

"I take it you wish to have the sword reforged and use it yourself? Dawn I realise that you have had to learn to fight, and under the most horrific of circumstances, but now you're back shouldn't you concentrate on completing your education and returning to a safer environment?"

Dawn stared at Giles for a moment, dumbfounded, before breaking into a laugh,  
"Did you just _listen_ to yourself Giles? Can you _guarantee_ a safer environment for _anyone,_ let alone the Slayer's sister who also happens to be some mystical doorknob? Get real! I might not have a 'Calling' but I _am_ a fully trained gladiator with an extensive working knowledge of demons and their languages. And you want me to go back to school and have Buffy and whoever doing baby sitting or guard duty on me? The education I have every intention of doing but the rest? Uh uh, nada, no way, forget it!"

Buffy spoke up to agree with her sister,  
"Giles, Dawn and Adanar are hoping to work for 'Angel Investigations', after she has a few weeks in Rome with me, of course. As for the sword; it seems to me that it's got _her_ name written all over it! _It chose her_! Are you really going to argue against that?"

Outnumbered and out argued, Giles conceded the sword would be left in Dawn's custody but with the proviso that she should use it cautiously and that Angel, Spike and Adanar should notify him immediately should they feel it was beginning to dominate Dawn. It would be reforged and fitted with a Berdea crystal enchanted to heal. And at Spike's suggestion, and with the sword's agreement, another rune would be engraved on the blade; one that would prevent it being handled by anyone with an evil intent.

Dawn held the sword hilt lovingly and smiled happily,  
"Cernageleda wants to thank you guys. He's promising to save at least as many lives as the innocent ones Strega took. Not just the souls that Strega stole. So where do we find a good blacksmith?"


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19.

Dawn carried the last of the dirty plates out into the kitchen after telling her guests to remain where they were because she wasn't going to do the washing up until after they had their coffee. As she scrapped the plates, she heard Spike wheedling Adanar into telling them the story of Dawn's marathon swearing bout. She smiled to herself and dawdled over the coffee making, knowing he'd let himself be persuaded if she stayed out of sight long enough.

"Come on, Big Guy. Red and Giles are leaving in the morning and Buffy and the Bit fly out tomorrow night. This could be the _only_ time we're all together to hear it."

The blond vamp's request was echoed by the others but it was Giles adding his voice to the throng that seemed to persuade the Ganaru. Softly, in case Dawn might overhear and come in to stop him, he began.

"It was after we escaped during the sandstorm. We had a hard time finding food and water but we discovered a certain fleshy plant covered in hundreds of hooked spines could keep us alive. But they were bland and unsatisfying and the spines were very painful to remove because of their barbs. They were abundant in the foothills and we found a good sized cave to live in. There was a farm not so far away but the Kridjatori never ventured into a cactus forest so that it was reasonably secure as well."

He lowered his wonderful voice to conspiratorial near whisper,

"Now Dawn, as we all know, has an _enormous_ appetite and she would go on about food for hours on end. _Most_ annoying, I must say, especially when I was always so hungry myself. Then one day she decided she wanted .. , what was it? Eggs cooked with milk stirred in?"

Spike provided the name,

"Scrambled eggs."

"That's it. So she set off through the cactus forest to the farm to steal a goat and some geese. The _stealing _part went quite well, until the goat took it into its head to begin bleating because of the thorns. Dawn had tied the goat about her neck and the animal made enough noise to alert the farmer and even I heard it back in the cave; I _hadn't_ known she'd gone out to make a raid. He set his dogs on her and she had to run through the forest to escape them. The thorns ripped her to pieces and Dawn began to swear, extremely loudly, in several different languages and without repeating a single word. And all the time she had the bleating goat around her neck and a squawking goose in either hand! Then I saw that the farmer and his workers were laughing and they began to _cheer _her on. It took her fifteen minutes to outrun the dogs and get through the forest."

Buffy asked,

"But I thought you said she swore for something like _twenty five_ minutes?"

Adanar began laughing hard,

"So I did. You see, she didn't realise that the goat was a _male_ until she got back to the cave! _That's _when the swearing really became picturesque! You should have seen her face! I could not believe that her skin could change _colour_ like that; red, purple, white."

They laughed along with him. Dawn stood in the kitchen doorway holding a tray of coffee and tea cups and reminded him sternly,

"Don't forget to tell them how _good _that damn beast tasted spit-roasted! _Or_ that you laughed for the three days it took to dig all those thorns out of my hide."

Setting the tray down carefully, she gave the Ganaru a disgusted glance and muttered,

"I notice _nothing _has been mentioned of the time you almost got me killed in the Ring because of your insane sense of humour. Or have you _forgotten_ the fat woman and the Natte sandworm?"

Adanar had the grace to blush a little before launching into that story also; a tale of how during one very dangerous match the sight of an extraordinarily obese Kridjatori woman wedged into a broken seat had distracted him from the attack of a huge sabre toothed worm and his laughter threatened to topple both he and Dawn from the precarious safety of a rock barely two foot square. This story led into a slew of remembrances from everyone present and they laughed and talked for hours in an atmosphere of cheerful good humour.

"I hope Dawn's decision to return to L.A and become one of the team hasn't hurt you too much Buffy?"

Angel had followed her into the kitchen in hopes of a private conversation. She added water to the coffee peculator before answering.

"Just a little. But I was kinda expecting it; she seems so comfortable here. The main thing is that she's here in this dimension where I can see her sometimes."

"You know we'll do our best to look after her?"

"She doesn't need looking after anymore. Besides; Spike's here."

That surprised him. It must have shown in his expression because the blond Slayer added,

"It's the one doubt I'll _never _have about Spike. He'd walk through fire without a moment's hesitation to save Dawnie from hurt of any kind. He was the same with mom. Both of them genuinely _liked _Spike; they enjoyed being around him. They never saw him as evil; he was just .. _Spike,_ a friend who watched tv with them, loved mom's hot chocolate, told them hair raising stories they couldn't get enough of and kept them laughing. He's a good man, Angel. You should get to know him better."

Angel found himself with little to say and a lot to think about. He took the tray Buffy held out and carried it through to the living room. Had he been so busy feeling jealous of Spike that he hadn't noticed how the blond vamp had changed? He watched as Spike joked with Gunn, laughingly tormented Giles and Dawn and exchanged insults with Buffy. What was it about _Spike_ that had Joyce accept him as a friend, un-souled, where she had only ever grudgingly accepted the souled Angel? Buffy had come close to loving him; had loved him on some level. Fred had seen, _Buffy thought he was worth it! _Maybe a new 'Angel Investigations' called for a new attitude towards Spike.

"Hey Red? 'Ave I grown an extra head or somethin'? The bloody Poof can't seem to take his eyes off me. Downright _worryin'_ it is!"

Spike nudged Willow in the ribs as he complained. What was the bleeder's problem _now_? Was Angel all out of joint because of Buffy's ringing, if unexpected, praise? The praise he'd overheard and found so .. _gratifying_? The little witch studied Angel for a moment before leaning in to whisper into the blond vamp's ear. Angel missed hearing whatever she said but since it made Spike choke on his blood so that he laughed, coughed and sprayed it over the coffee table, he wondered if he _really_ wanted to know.

A drowsy Dawn snuggled contentedly between Buffy and Giles, not wanting these moments to end but knowing she would need to go to bed soon. Happily, she knew that for tonight at least, there would be no nightmares to wake her. She was home, going to spend weeks with her sister and coming back to a new life; perhaps as dangerous as the one she had survived on a hell world, but one which would give her as many good memories as bad. As she drifted off, her head on Buffy's shoulder she decided, not as many but _more_.

A/N:

This was my first long fanfic and a lot harder to write than I thought it would be. I'm hoping to do another 'new' A.I. fic to follow on. I don't know if I would have finished this one without the great reviews I received. Thanks to everyone.

Especially for Katie, who kindly sent me a kind word after every chapter. Thanks a million, it made me want to keep going. I hope the ending doesn't disappoint and that the next one will be an improvement.

Janekle.


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